Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 10,063 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 54.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,367 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,063 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $183.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.13. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $220.91.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $699,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.