VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Scientech Research LLC

Scientech Research LLC trimmed its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,964 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,338 shares during the quarter. Scientech Research LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 322.2% in 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. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in VeriSign by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its position in VeriSign by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $600,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $989,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $1.65 on Tuesday, hitting $280.84. The stock had a trading volume of 888,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,868. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.79 and a 1 year high of $288.95. The company's 50 day moving average price is $257.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.18.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign 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 sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Finally, 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.

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.