Semanteon Capital Management LP Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,042,000 after buying an additional 25,639 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP raised its holdings in VeriSign by 142.0% during the 4th quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,153,000 after buying an additional 17,529 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,941,000 after buying an additional 9,888 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its holdings in VeriSign by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in VeriSign by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 85,196 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,547,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total value of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $175.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.51 and a 12 month high of $229.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $189.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.03.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $384.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 47.39% and a net margin of 55.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share.

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.