Alta Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Alta Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 89,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,153 shares during the quarter. VeriSign makes up about 1.1% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $18,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.0 %

VeriSign stock opened at $240.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $242.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $217.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.70.

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

About VeriSign

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.