BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 13,718 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. cut its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 355,326 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,718 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.36% of VeriSign worth $63,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 291.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 117.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in VeriSign by 55.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 327 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $183.90. The company had a trading volume of 661,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,844. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $220.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $178.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.66.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares in the company, valued at $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.