Summit Global Investments Sells 10,756 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Summit Global Investments cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 60.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,756 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,247,000 after buying an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $312,900,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in VeriSign by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,049,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,335,000 after acquiring an additional 44,743 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $277.61 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $278.56 and its 200 day moving average is $258.66. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,010.73. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.