Nebula Research & Development LLC Cuts Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nebula Research & Development LLC cut its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 30.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,782 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,567 shares during the quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $272.79 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $243.21 and its 200 day moving average is $214.07. The firm has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.05 and a 52-week high of $276.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $400.44 million.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.

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