VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 55.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,485 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,695 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in VeriSign by 544.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares during the period. Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in VeriSign by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $189,274,000 after buying an additional 301,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,639,000 after acquiring an additional 199,583 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $254.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $232.16 and a 200-day moving average of $205.74. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.05 and a one year high of $257.70.

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company 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.