Ninety One UK Ltd Reduces Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,875,260 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 36,200 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for 2.7% of Ninety One UK Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 4.12% of VeriSign worth $983,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 48.8% in the first 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 period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.87, for a total value of $1,127,480.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 531,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,890,573.64. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total value of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,004 shares of company stock worth $7,302,812. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $2.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $289.76. The stock had a trading volume of 694,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 757,052. The company has a market cap of $27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $291.65. The business's 50 day moving average price is $280.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.94.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is 37.65%.

About VeriSign

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.