VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,498 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 22.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 15.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.44, for a total value of $25,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,833,937.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.58, for a total transaction of $407,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 504,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,666,615.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.44, for a total transaction of $25,430.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,833,937.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,388 shares of company stock valued at $3,597,494. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $188.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $185.19 and a 1 year high of $229.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.65.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.