Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 48.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,722 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 157,068 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.18% of VeriSign worth $34,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $141,129,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $143,319,000 after acquiring an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its stake 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 worth $2,746,661,000 after acquiring an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 58.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $155,236,450. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $2,246,382. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $269.22. 133,649 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 754,804. The company has a market cap of $25.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $168.79 and a one year high of $288.95. The company's fifty day moving average price is $262.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.89.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

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.