Allstate Corp Purchases Shares of 2,617 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,617 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $254.98 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.05 and a 52 week high of $257.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.74. The firm has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.