USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 5,517 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 48 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $2.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $267.13. 204,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 754,025. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.79 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The stock has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $262.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.17.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued 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 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,501 shares of company stock valued at $2,387,664. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.