New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 8,383 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,573 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,383 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of VeriSign worth $21,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in VeriSign by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $369,989,000 after purchasing an additional 233,811 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $89,624,000 after purchasing an additional 220,106 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in VeriSign by 471.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $49,220,000 after purchasing an additional 197,169 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $220,771,000 after acquiring an additional 125,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 749,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $151,802,000 after acquiring an additional 105,901 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864 over the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.9 %

VRSN opened at $175.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $189.29 and its 200 day moving average is $199.97. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.51 and a 12-month high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $384.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.04% and a negative return on equity of 47.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share.

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.