Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 62 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 272 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $237.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $239.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $216.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.96.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.