Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,039 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares in the company, valued at $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of VRSN opened at $181.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.33. The company has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $220.91.

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

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.