Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Sells 11,633 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 48.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,515 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,633 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $252.16. 653,496 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,443. The business's fifty day moving average price is $241.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.80. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $258.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.