VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Position Reduced by Alta Capital Management LLC

Alta Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 24.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,877 shares during the period. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $17,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $352,071,000 after purchasing an additional 35,326 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,853,000 after purchasing an additional 229,311 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $265,894,000 after purchasing an additional 116,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $558,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 542,772 shares in the company, valued at $151,585,364.16. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.44, for a total value of $137,995.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,817,079.68. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,002 shares of company stock worth $4,467,769 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $281.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.49 and a 12-month high of $288.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.52.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%. The firm had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend 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.