Birch Capital Management LLC Raises Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Birch Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 3,996.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,096 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.6% during the second quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 6.5% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $209.22. The stock had a trading volume of 872,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,559. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $213.68. The stock's 50 day moving average is $191.07 and its 200 day moving average is $184.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The firm had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $233,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,382,670. This represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.