Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Sells 7,687 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lessened its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,687 shares during the period. VeriSign accounts for about 2.7% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd owned about 0.06% of VeriSign worth $12,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following 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 represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $254.98 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $232.16 and its 200 day moving average is $205.74. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.05 and a one year high of $257.70. The firm has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.