DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Has $680,000 Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 69.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,309 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total transaction of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $281.41 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $252.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.92. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.51 and a 52-week high of $288.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors 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 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.