GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 98,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,420,000. VeriSign accounts for approximately 7.2% of GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd owned about 0.10% of VeriSign as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $239.82 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $242.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $224.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.12. The company has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.