VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $483,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in VeriSign by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,318 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,342,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 232,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,078,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $229.34 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $230.30. The stock has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $207.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.72.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by 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.