iA Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 149.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,699 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,014 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 1.3% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,430 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 32,552 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,788,000 after buying an additional 4,681 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,768 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,426,000 after buying an additional 20,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0 %

VRSN traded up $1.90 on Friday, hitting $183.90. 661,519 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 645,020. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $178.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.57. The stock has a market cap of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $220.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 previous year, the business posted $1.79 earnings per share. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

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.