VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stake Lessened by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 72.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,101 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 363,485 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.14% of VeriSign worth $28,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares during the period. Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $1,420,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $542,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s 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 owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $240.20 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.05 and a one year high of $258.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $234.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.20.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign 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.