State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 39.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,844 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 291.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 117.2% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 327 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $182.81 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $179.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.66. The company has a market capitalization of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $220.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $387.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.80 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares in the company, valued at $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.