V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 52.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its position in VeriSign by 158.6% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $178.29 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $226.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $176.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.31.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 47.21% and a net margin of 55.04%. The firm had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,855.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total transaction of $204,168.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,855.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total value of $147,228.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $622,406.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,295 shares of company stock worth $584,887 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.