GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd Sells 24,830 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 25.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,835 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 24,830 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises 4.6% of GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd owned 0.08% of VeriSign worth $18,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $47,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.87, for a total value of $1,127,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 531,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,890,573.64. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,002 shares of company stock worth $7,013,599 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $289.08. The company had a trading volume of 650,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 752,241. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.49 and a twelve month high of $291.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $278.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

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.