Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Purchases 1,693 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 122.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,070 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its position in VeriSign by 3.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $352,071,000 after buying an additional 35,326 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 229,311 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $265,894,000 after acquiring an additional 116,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,062,000 after acquiring an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of VRSN opened at $281.64 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $255.60 and its 200 day moving average is $223.07. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.70 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The stock has a market cap of $26.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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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