Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Invests $356,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,576 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in VeriSign by 88.8% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 708 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 2,628.6% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $199.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50 and a beta of 0.96. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.24 and a fifty-two week high of $229.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The information services provider reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 48.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.15%. The firm had revenue of $372.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.85, for a total transaction of $439,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,642 shares in the company, valued at $128,313,693.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.73, for a total transaction of $28,091.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,190 shares in the company, valued at $5,885,678.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.85, for a total transaction of $439,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 583,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,313,693.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,182 shares of company stock worth $5,801,360. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of VeriSign from $252.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of VeriSign from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th.

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 the 13 internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.