Redwood Investment Management LLC Acquires New Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,937 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,712,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after purchasing an additional 504,748 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,788 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 96.2% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 20,160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,172,000 after acquiring an additional 9,884 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $563,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

VeriSign Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of VRSN opened at $276.40 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.51 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The company has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $254.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.36.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

VeriSign 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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