Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 43,899 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 42.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,211 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 43,899 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of VeriSign worth $12,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded down $2.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $233.56. 593,966 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 809,891. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.44. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $242.23. The firm has a market cap of $22.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 0.87.

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VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 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.