VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Bought by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 192.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,377 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,774 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after buying an additional 233,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $89,624,000 after purchasing an additional 220,106 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 471.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $49,220,000 after purchasing an additional 197,169 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $220,771,000 after purchasing an additional 125,901 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 749,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $151,802,000 after purchasing an additional 105,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.0 %

VRSN stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 898,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,345. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $229.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.98.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.04% and a negative return on equity of 47.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total transaction of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,999,500.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,989. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.