Everence Capital Management Inc. Acquires 1,430 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 93.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 22.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 10.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at $767,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in VeriSign by 15.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in VeriSign by 14.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup dropped 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $181.57 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.57 and a 1-year high of $229.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $191.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $201.06.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The company had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. Equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign 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.