VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,427 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,833 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $281.88 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.05. The company has a market capitalization of $26.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $290.38.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders 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 presently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.17, for a total value of $145,375.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,104,805.90. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,503 shares of company stock worth $7,158,975 over the last three months. 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.

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