Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 223 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position 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 during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.6 %

VRSN opened at $240.93 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $218.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.41. The company has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $242.23.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.