VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at $78,136,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,386,000. CCLA Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth about $64,137,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2,033.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 231,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,510,000 after buying an additional 220,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 678,134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $150,856,000 after buying an additional 141,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $227.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $212.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.38. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.25 and a 52 week high of $227.84.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The information services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $364.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.32 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 48.20% and a negative return on equity of 45.19%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.88, for a total value of $25,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,536 shares in the company, valued at $5,558,967.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.07, for a total transaction of $1,600,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 661,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,408,326.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.88, for a total transaction of $25,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,558,967.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,924 shares of company stock worth $10,766,250. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.