Two Star Manager LLC reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,635 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 14,689 shares during the period. VeriSign comprises 5.8% of Two Star Manager LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Two Star Manager LLC owned about 0.06% of VeriSign worth $12,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $244,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $989,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. CX Institutional lifted its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 700 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
VeriSign Stock Down 0.6%
VRSN traded down $1.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $280.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 888,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,868. The company has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.57. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.79 and a 1 year high of $288.95.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.
VeriSign Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on VeriSign
Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign
In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.
VeriSign Profile
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Free Report)
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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