Nebula Research & Development LLC Trims Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nebula Research & Development LLC decreased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,782 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,567 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 49.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 322.2% during 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. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $2.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $279.70. 1,239,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 876,300. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $283.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $245.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The business's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.