Railway Pension Investments Ltd Purchases Shares of 11,000 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,956,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $207,161,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in VeriSign by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $121,888,000 after purchasing an additional 312,882 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 245.4% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 334,652 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,420,000 after purchasing an additional 237,770 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 38.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $103,531,000 after purchasing an additional 153,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 316,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,987,000 after acquiring an additional 117,597 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares in the company, valued at $7,177,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $181.74. The stock had a trading volume of 457,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,128. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.75. The firm has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $220.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.08. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 EPS. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th.

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.