3,028 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Purchased by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,028 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $207,161,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 94.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $121,888,000 after buying an additional 312,882 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 245.4% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 334,652 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,420,000 after buying an additional 237,770 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 38.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $103,531,000 after buying an additional 153,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted 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 worth $64,987,000 after buying an additional 117,597 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 37,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,177,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $183.90. 661,500 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,843. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $178.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $220.91.

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

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.