V Square Quantitative Management LLC Lowers Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,059 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,984 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $324,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,874,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $229.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $209.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.35. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $230.30.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 44.06%.

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.