Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.61 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 502 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,161,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 14.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after purchasing an additional 233,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 99.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $89,624,000 after purchasing an additional 220,106 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 471.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $49,220,000 after acquiring an additional 197,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 316,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,987,000 after acquiring an additional 117,597 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,088,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,964,855.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at $8,088,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,295 shares of company stock valued at $584,887. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $181.69 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.94 and a 200-day moving average of $190.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.91. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $226.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th.

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.