Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 511 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $244.51 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $246.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.36. The stock has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share 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%.

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.