Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Sells 514 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,189 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 514 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,639,000 after buying an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $600,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $989,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value 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 represents a 1.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.79, for a total transaction of $170,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,447 shares of company stock worth $386,654 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $283.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.79 and a 12 month high of $288.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $256.53 and its 200 day moving average is $223.79.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

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.