Greenline Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Greenline Partners LLC reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 70.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 829 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,992 shares during the period. Greenline Partners LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,129,000. 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 acquiring an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in VeriSign by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $189,274,000 after acquiring an additional 301,267 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 20.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 229,311 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $281.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $252.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.43. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.51 and a 52-week high of $288.95.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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