SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 1,306.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,580 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 21,904 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position 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 valued at $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in VeriSign by 2.1% during 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $273,853,000 after buying an additional 229,311 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings 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 worth $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $279.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 427,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,548. The stock has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.01.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The business's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total transaction of $1,402,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,002 shares of company stock worth $4,467,769. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.