Nomura Holdings Inc. Invests $563,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,718 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.6%

VRSN opened at $280.84 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.79 and a twelve month high of $288.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $258.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.57. The company has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.

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