Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 34.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,500 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,300 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $10,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,806 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,224,000 after buying an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 404.8% during the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 96,636 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,534,000 after purchasing an additional 77,494 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 76,143 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,330,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 150.0% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 329,027 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $83,530,000 after purchasing an additional 197,402 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.44, for a total transaction of $137,995.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,817,079.68. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,002 shares of company stock worth $7,013,599 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $287.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.49 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $277.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.29.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share. VeriSign's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

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.

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