Essex LLC Reduces Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Essex LLC lowered its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,432 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 690 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in VeriSign by 544.1% in 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 last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,455,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at about $35,665,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in VeriSign by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 383,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $79,286,000 after purchasing an additional 138,796 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in VeriSign by 26.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after purchasing an additional 120,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $221.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.63. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $224.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.