VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC lessened its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 55.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,485 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,695 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4 %

VRSN opened at $254.98 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $232.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.74. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.05 and a 52-week high of $257.70. The company has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company 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.