Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Trims Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank trimmed its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 79.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,981 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,298 shares during the period. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank's holdings in VeriSign were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 291.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in VeriSign by 117.2% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $200.53. 526,812 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 662,995. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $220.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.49. The firm has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. VeriSign's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,776 shares of company stock worth $1,102,524 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.