Appleton Partners Inc. MA Decreases Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lessened its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $147,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN traded down $0.66 on Friday, hitting $187.71. 787,618 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 717,294. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $220.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $178.37 and its 200 day moving average is $184.69.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy Tomlinson 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total transaction of $204,168.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,751 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,527. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.