Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 6,142 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 491.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,392 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,142 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup raised their price target 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 VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $276.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.52 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50-day moving average is $244.10 and its 200-day moving average is $214.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.05 and a one year high of $279.94.

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 for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date 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.

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