Axa S.A. Lowers Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

AXA S.A. reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,138 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,075 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,311 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 32,645 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,724,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 399.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 42,064 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,663,000 after acquiring an additional 33,637 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in VeriSign by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,828,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSN. 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 reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 37,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.4 %

VRSN opened at $190.64 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.01. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $220.91. The company has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.90.

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 negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The business had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.79 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

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.