VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Bought by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 988.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,698 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,807 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $176,980,000 after acquiring an additional 695,102 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after purchasing an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $273,853,000 after purchasing an additional 229,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,004 shares of company stock worth $11,278,592. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $10.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $266.98. 3,035,597 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 753,103. The company has a fifty day moving average of $282.44 and a 200 day moving average of $256.39. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.49 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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.