Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Veriti Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Veriti Management LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,795 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 394 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 970 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Veritable L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 1,764 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 91.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO George E. Kilguss III sold 25,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.14, for a total transaction of $5,253,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 96,342 shares in the company, valued at $20,245,307.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO George E. Kilguss III sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.14, for a total transaction of $5,253,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 96,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,245,307.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.72, for a total transaction of $126,719.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,066,007.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,733 shares of company stock worth $12,645,242 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2 %

VRSN opened at $194.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $207.42 and its 200-day moving average is $195.48. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.25 and a 52-week high of $228.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The information services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $369.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.10 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 47.30% and a negative return on equity of 46.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $216.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th.

About VeriSign

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VeriSign, Inc provides domain name registry services and Internet infrastructure, which enables Internet navigation for many of the world’s most recognized domain names. It enables the security, stability, and resiliency of key Internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services.