Willis Investment Counsel Buys 2,569 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 116.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,783 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $222,840,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 34,326.0% during 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. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake 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 worth $143,319,000 after acquiring an additional 504,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRSN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of VRSN traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $279.90. The stock had a trading volume of 427,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,548. The firm has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.36. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,002 shares of company stock worth $4,467,769 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.