VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Position Reduced by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,010 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $483,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,318 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 232,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,078,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 97.7% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,922 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,897,000 after purchasing an additional 11,822 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $221.39 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $224.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $204.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.32.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.