VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 127.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $38,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Services increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,137 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $238.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.95. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $239.05. The stock has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Profile

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.