Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,422 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,888 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 23,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $3.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $281.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 953,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,456. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.51 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The company has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given 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.