Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,780 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Veriti Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Veriti Management LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,795 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its holdings in VeriSign by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 394 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 970 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veritable L.P. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 1,764 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.25, for a total value of $404,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,192,799. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.25, for a total value of $404,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,192,799. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.72, for a total transaction of $126,719.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,066,007.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,733 shares of company stock valued at $12,645,242 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.4 %

VeriSign stock opened at $193.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.64. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.25 and a 12-month high of $228.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VRSN. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th.

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.