Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,113 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,026 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.09% of VeriSign worth $18,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 72.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,867 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,310,000 after acquiring an additional 12,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 10.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 121,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,595,000 after acquiring an additional 11,853 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in VeriSign by 59.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 32,223 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 12,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in VeriSign by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 392,098 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $69,717,000 after purchasing an additional 18,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
VRSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 target price on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.
Get Our Latest Analysis on VRSN
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
VeriSign Stock Performance
Shares of VRSN traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $209.72. The stock had a trading volume of 503,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 788,879. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $213.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average is $195.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.33.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share.
About VeriSign
(
Free Report)
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.
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