Key Points
- VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares on Feb. 3 at an average price of $249.08 for about $124,041.84, leaving him with 30,115 shares (a 1.63% ownership decline, roughly $7.5M in value).
- Major institutions have been increasing exposure—Norges Bank added a new ~<$300M> stake and Vanguard, AQR and others materially raised positions—leaving institutional investors with about 92.9% ownership of the company.
- Wall Street is mixed on VRSN: the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $298 average target (2 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell among recent analyst reports).
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.08, for a total transaction of $124,041.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,501,044.20. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.
VeriSign Stock Performance
VRSN stock opened at $240.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average is $246.82 and its 200 day moving average is $260.24. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.43 and a 52 week high of $310.60.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 8.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 394.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $154,325,000 after purchasing an additional 440,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at about $124,066,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $298.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on VRSN
About VeriSign
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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