Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Decreases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,244 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake in VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,746,661,000 after acquiring an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $227,062,000 after acquiring an additional 403,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in VeriSign by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $189,274,000 after acquiring an additional 301,267 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,059,955.65. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5%

VRSN stock opened at $283.14 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.79 and a twelve month high of $288.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $256.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.11. The stock has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 0.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date 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.