Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 474,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 26,595 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.49% of VeriSign worth $98,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $246.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.05 and a 1 year high of $258.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.57.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’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 transaction of $103,592.25. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.