Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 48 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amundi increased its position in VeriSign by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 702,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $148,604,000 after buying an additional 106,094 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 693,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $131,712,000 after acquiring an additional 47,412 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in VeriSign by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after acquiring an additional 120,958 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 570,016 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,971,000 after purchasing an additional 42,465 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $239.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.49 and a 200 day moving average of $201.12. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $242.23.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.