Meritage Portfolio Management Has $7.60 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,042,000 after purchasing an additional 25,639 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its stake in VeriSign by 142.0% during the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,153,000 after purchasing an additional 17,529 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,888 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 85,196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,547,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $6.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $176.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 930,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,648. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.25. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.51 and a 52 week high of $229.72. The company has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71 and a beta of 0.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. The firm had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.85 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at $8,088,110. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

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.