VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 958 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 93.2% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 61.1% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 138.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 16,966.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 512 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $210.68 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $195.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.33. The company has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $213.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.