DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Sells 7,309 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main trimmed its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 69.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,309 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,639,000 after buying an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $600,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $989,000. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $281.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $168.51 and a one year high of $288.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $252.53 and a 200 day moving average of $220.92.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,447 shares of company stock valued at $386,654. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. 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 shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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.