Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 366,702 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,468 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.33% of VeriSign worth $93,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $167,760,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in VeriSign by 108.1% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 383,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $87,380,000 after purchasing an additional 199,381 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,144,110 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $234,554,000 after purchasing an additional 138,485 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in VeriSign by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 212,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,322,000 after purchasing an additional 119,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fundsmith LLP increased its holdings in VeriSign by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 693,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $142,132,000 after purchasing an additional 104,750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.26% of the company’s stock.

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $165.11 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.64 and a 12 month high of $257.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $205.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.34.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The information services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.72% and a net margin of 58.63%. The company had revenue of $346.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.71, for a total transaction of $647,130.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.31, for a total value of $60,741.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,748 shares of company stock worth $3,761,985 over the last 90 days. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VRSN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on VeriSign in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird cut VeriSign from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, April 29th.

VeriSign Company Profile (Get Rating)

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. It enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of the 13 internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which support global e-commerce.

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