GAMMA Investing LLC Has $419,000 Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,025 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 59.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 102,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,224,000 after purchasing an additional 38,036 shares during the period. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $5,204,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 54.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,175 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at about $130,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.7% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 69,175 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,066,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $205.62 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $210.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.61.

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,382,670. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.