Blueshift Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,630 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 728 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in VeriSign by 89.5% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 155,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,193,000 after buying an additional 73,463 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $2,181,000. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $20,420,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $182,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.0 %

VeriSign stock opened at $242.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.05 and a 52 week high of $243.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock 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, StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

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.