VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 811,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 24,235 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $140,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth $78,136,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth $64,386,000. CCLA Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth $64,137,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 26.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 678,134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $150,856,000 after purchasing an additional 141,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 18.6% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 831,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $144,393,000 after purchasing an additional 130,091 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.12, for a total value of $400,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 672,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,569,493.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $122,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,159,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.12, for a total transaction of $400,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 672,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,569,493.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 60,733 shares of company stock valued at $12,645,242. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $193.35 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.25 and a 1-year high of $228.80. The stock has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $207.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.64.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The information services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.17. VeriSign had a net margin of 47.30% and a negative return on equity of 46.13%. The business had revenue of $369.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Profile

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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.