American International Group Inc. Sells 4,333 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

American International Group Inc. cut its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,333 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,042,000 after acquiring an additional 25,639 shares during the period. Palo DS Manager LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $14,174,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 330,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,027,000 after buying an additional 111,911 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 614.0% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 15,672 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,228,000 after buying an additional 13,477 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total transaction of $147,228.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $622,406.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,295 shares of company stock worth $584,887. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $181.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.43. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $226.80.

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

VeriSign 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.