Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 254,198 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 52.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,688 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 254,198 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.24% of VeriSign worth $47,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $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% in 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 purchasing 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% during 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $2.53 on Tuesday, reaching $278.72. The company had a trading volume of 536,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,495. The stock's 50 day moving average is $244.10 and its 200-day moving average is $214.88. The stock has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.05 and a 52 week high of $279.94.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) 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 negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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