Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Cuts Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,635 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in VeriSign by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 3,996.0% in the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 322.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 602.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $989,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of VRSN opened at $229.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.35. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $230.30.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Company 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.