VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,313 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 21,648 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of VeriSign worth $12,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.9% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 3.9% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $296,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Services boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,137 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2 %

VRSN traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $237.88. 1,328,986 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,487. The company has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $239.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.96.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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.