BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Invests $720,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,479 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in VeriSign by 5.7% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 69,175 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,066,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at $130,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 54.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,175 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,162,000 after buying an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth $5,204,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 59.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 102,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,224,000 after buying an additional 38,036 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSN. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target 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 the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $1.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $277.21. 176,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 743,082. The stock has a market cap of $26.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.05 and a 52 week high of $279.94. The firm's fifty day moving average is $244.10 and its 200-day moving average is $214.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 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.