Argyle Capital Management LLC Acquires 238 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.9% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Services boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,137 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $235.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.52. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $239.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.