Vestcor Inc Has $4.38 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,030 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,774 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $200.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.07 and its 200 day moving average is $181.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.92. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $220.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $233,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.