VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Position Lessened by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 386,202 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 66,219 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up approximately 3.9% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Ninety One North America Inc. owned approximately 0.38% of VeriSign worth $79,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 10.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at about $767,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,545 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,500.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,500.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $119,737.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,143 shares in the company, valued at $8,427,122.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VRSN. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $183.10. The stock had a trading volume of 210,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,824. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.57 and a 1-year high of $229.72. The company has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.06.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.01 million. On average, research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Company 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.