National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 60.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,931 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.05% of VeriSign worth $11,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 52.0% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 158.6% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 251.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 355 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,088,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,139 shares of company stock valued at $2,731,971 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $168.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $229.72.

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

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.