VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,870,000 shares, a decrease of 16.1% from the October 31st total of 2,230,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 621,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,382,670. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Troy Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $109,040,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 836.8% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 473,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $84,133,000 after acquiring an additional 422,676 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $67,914,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter worth about $46,455,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 44.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $139,771,000 after purchasing an additional 242,884 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $187.18 on Monday. VeriSign has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $220.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. The firm had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

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.