Millennium Management LLC Has $84.65 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Millennium Management LLC cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 130,171 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.43% of VeriSign worth $84,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on 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 raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $276.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 0.80. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $168.51 and a 52 week high of $288.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $254.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.36.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 600 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,059,955.65. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 400 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.97, for a total value of $112,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,579,769.95. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Profile

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.