West Family Investments Inc. Invests $235,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,139 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its position in VeriSign by 158.6% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 251.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 355 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The transaction 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 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 owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,989 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of VRSN traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.32. The company had a trading volume of 898,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,345. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.98. The company has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 47.21% and a net margin of 55.04%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share.

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.