Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $989,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. CX Institutional increased its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Pflug Koory LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 700 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VRSN. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $170,274.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $280.84 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.57. The company has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $168.79 and a 52 week high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.