Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,771 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 322.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,639,000 after acquiring an additional 199,583 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $600,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $989,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $1.65 on Tuesday, reaching $280.84. The company had a trading volume of 888,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,786. The firm has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.79 and a 52-week high of $288.95. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $257.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.18.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

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.