VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 575,976 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 156,016 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $119,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,129,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in 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 last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $189,274,000 after purchasing an additional 301,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $273,853,000 after purchasing an additional 229,311 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3 %

VRSN opened at $281.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $252.53 and a 200-day moving average of $220.67. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.51 and a 12-month high of $288.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total value of $170,274.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This represents a 13.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

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.