American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 82.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,322 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 67,556 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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VeriSign Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VRSN traded up $4.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $247.13. 626,259 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,225. The company has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.05 and a 52 week high of $258.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 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 analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st.

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.