State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Trims Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,944 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,492 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.7% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 69,175 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,066,000 after buying an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $130,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 54.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,175 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,162,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares during the period. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at $5,204,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 59.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 102,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,224,000 after purchasing an additional 38,036 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.4 %

VeriSign stock traded up $3.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $282.12. 1,247,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,666. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $244.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.32. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $282.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27 and a beta of 0.87.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company 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.