Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $61.53 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 242,363 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,388 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.26% of VeriSign worth $61,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total transaction of $562,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $145,112,452.20. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total value of $143,837.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,004 shares of company stock worth $11,278,592. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 6.7%

Shares of VRSN stock traded up $19.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $305.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,260,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,056. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $282.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.24. The company has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.49 and a fifty-two week high of $308.00.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.