CapWealth Advisors LLC Sells 165 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

CapWealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $988,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $767,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRSN stock traded up $1.53 during trading on Thursday, reaching $183.10. 210,194 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,824. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.57 and a twelve month high of $229.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $191.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $201.06.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. As a group, analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

About VeriSign

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.