VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,261 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 895 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 333.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,046,000 after buying an additional 18,844 shares during the period. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 15,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,242,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 31,749 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,539,000 after buying an additional 4,003 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,067 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $1,163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total transaction of $147,228.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $622,406.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total transaction of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,999,500.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total value of $147,228.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $622,406.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,170 shares of company stock worth $1,143,183. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $171.17 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $228.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $180.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03 and a beta of 0.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 47.21% and a net margin of 55.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday.

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