Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $551,000 Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $207,161,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 6.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 793,507 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $150,376,000 after buying an additional 49,967 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in VeriSign by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $159,069,000 after buying an additional 22,796 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 94.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $121,888,000 after buying an additional 312,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 38.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $103,531,000 after acquiring an additional 153,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN traded up $7.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $184.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,328,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,725. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.80 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 48.07% and a net margin of 55.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other VeriSign news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total transaction of $147,228.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,661 shares in the company, valued at $622,406.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total transaction of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,855.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,067 shares of company stock worth $351,567 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.