Covestor Ltd Has $292,000 Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 905.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of VRSN traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $243.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 100,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,208. The company has a 50 day moving average of $237.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.82. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $258.67. The firm has a market cap of $23.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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.

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.