Ieq Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 270.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,721 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 40,680 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC owned 0.06% of VeriSign worth $11,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 138.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $233.00. The company had a trading volume of 439,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,181. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $211.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.50. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $236.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.17 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%.

About VeriSign

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.