Machina Capital S.A.S. Reduces Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Machina Capital S.A.S. reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,875 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 23,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 16,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,321,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 19,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 29,327 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,940,000 after buying an additional 4,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total value of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,999,500.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,989 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $0.59 on Monday, hitting $168.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 666,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,641. The company has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $229.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.17.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

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.