Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 363,485 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 72.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,101 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 363,485 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.14% of VeriSign worth $28,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in VeriSign by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $265,894,000 after purchasing an additional 116,833 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,420,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $542,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $4.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $247.13. 626,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,225. The company's fifty day moving average is $238.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $258.67. The stock has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.