Boston Financial Mangement LLC Increases Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 181,746 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,198 shares during the period. VeriSign comprises approximately 1.1% of Boston Financial Mangement LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Boston Financial Mangement LLC owned 0.19% of VeriSign worth $37,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Services boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,137 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised 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, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $231.87. 978,529 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 762,660. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $211.65 and a 200 day moving average of $193.50. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $236.20. The firm has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.90.

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

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.