iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,700 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 59.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,247 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,700 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in VeriSign by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 11,053 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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VeriSign Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $245.81. 657,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 690,916. The business's 50-day moving average price is $227.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.24. The company has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $247.47.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.