Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 66.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,683 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 93,542 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $244.63 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.82. The stock has a market cap of $23.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $258.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.