VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 359,996 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 64,827 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.38% of VeriSign worth $91,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,732 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,009,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,975 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,833,000 after buying an additional 1,542 shares during the period. Burney Co. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 9,292 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,359,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,264 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,860,000 after buying an additional 2,322 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,877 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 6.7%

VRSN stock traded up $19.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $305.79. 1,260,106 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 605,056. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $282.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.24. The stock 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 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $308.00.

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

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $145,112,452.20. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,278,592. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.