Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 39,200 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 39,200 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $30,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in VeriSign by 544.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 3,996.0% during the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 322.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 602.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $989,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $238.24 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.95. The company has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $239.05.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

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.