VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Seven Eight Capital LP

Seven Eight Capital LP cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 49.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,016 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,963 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,513 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,077,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% in the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 7,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded down $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $174.97. 881,620 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 660,870. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $220.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $176.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.58. The company has a market cap of $17.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65 and a beta of 0.90.

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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 47.21% and a net margin of 55.04%. The business had revenue of $384.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,855.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total transaction of $147,228.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $622,406.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,855.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,067 shares of company stock worth $351,567 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.