USS Investment Management Ltd Has $3.10 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,971 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,517 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in VeriSign by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $352,071,000 after purchasing an additional 35,326 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $273,853,000 after purchasing an additional 229,311 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $265,894,000 after purchasing an additional 116,833 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.6%

VRSN traded down $10.20 on Tuesday, hitting $269.56. 1,191,793 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,231. The firm has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.79 and a twelve month high of $288.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $261.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.61.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $155,236,450. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,246,382. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.