VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 58.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 54,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $8,310,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total transaction of $562,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $145,112,452.20. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,278,592 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $283.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $280.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $291.54.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.