Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $389,000 Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $240.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $234.69 and a 200-day moving average of $207.20. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $258.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

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.