Blueshift Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Troy Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,040,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 836.8% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 473,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $84,133,000 after purchasing an additional 422,676 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,914,000. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $46,455,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $139,771,000 after buying an additional 242,884 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,990. This represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $191.63 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.35. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $220.91. The stock has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 0.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. The company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

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.