Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $227.06 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 58.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up 0.8% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 1.14% of VeriSign worth $227,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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 company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $276.40. The company had a trading volume of 748,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,539. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.51 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $254.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.36. The firm has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.