Penserra Capital Management LLC Increases Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 537.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,848 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,843,479.90. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $578,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 524,772 shares in the company, valued at $151,811,291.88. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,004 shares of company stock worth $9,305,492 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $4.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $285.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 580,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,349. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.23. The company has a market capitalization of $26.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $291.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st.

VeriSign 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.