Quent Capital LLC Lowers Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Quent Capital LLC cut its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 57.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 264 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 359 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $207,161,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 793,507 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $150,376,000 after purchasing an additional 49,967 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 94.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $121,888,000 after purchasing an additional 312,882 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 38.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $103,531,000 after buying an additional 153,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 462,829 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $95,324,000 after buying an additional 2,706 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.4 %

VRSN traded up $2.41 on Wednesday, hitting $179.57. The company had a trading volume of 143,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 679,017. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.19. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $220.91. The company has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.08. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The firm had revenue of $387.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, insider Timothy Tomlinson 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy Tomlinson 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total transaction of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 5,750 shares of company stock worth $1,051,357 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.