Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 79 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,768 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 5,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 181,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,614,000 after buying an additional 11,198 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 33,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,006,000 after purchasing an additional 5,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 270.5% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 55,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,532,000 after acquiring an additional 40,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.9 %

VRSN opened at $231.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $236.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $212.33 and a 200 day moving average of $194.11.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.