SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Grows Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 42.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 621 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 185 shares during the quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 358.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,775,000 after purchasing an additional 54,759 shares during the period. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth about $329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $280.86 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $291.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $280.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.55.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised 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 $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 515,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $145,112,452.20. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,278,592 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.