Weaver Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Weaver Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 60.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,959 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,995 shares during the quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Palo DS Manager LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,174,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in VeriSign by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 330,291 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $68,027,000 after purchasing an additional 111,911 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in VeriSign by 614.0% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 15,672 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 13,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in VeriSign by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 107,224 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,320,000 after purchasing an additional 19,215 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $1.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $183.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 415,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,493. The company has a 50-day moving average of $179.21 and a 200-day moving average of $181.33. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $220.91. The firm has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71 and a beta of 0.90.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $385.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.79 EPS. The business'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.