VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,225 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,212 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.15% of VeriSign worth $26,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 291.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 117.2% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in VeriSign by 93.2% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $198.10. The stock had a trading volume of 160,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,645. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $220.91. The firm's 50 day moving average is $185.84 and its 200-day moving average is $181.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15 and a beta of 0.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,821 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,990. This represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

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.