VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stake Boosted by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,806 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,445,949 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,323,807,000 after buying an additional 59,957 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in VeriSign by 33.5% in the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 5,528,736 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,168,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,849 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its stake in VeriSign by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 3,076,338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $632,003,000 after buying an additional 233,031 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $461,891,000 after purchasing an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,514,339 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $311,106,000 after purchasing an additional 11,387 shares during the last quarter. 90.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $206.25 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $211.04 and its 200-day moving average is $212.59. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.24 and a 52 week high of $229.72. The firm has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.47 and a beta of 0.96.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The information services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $372.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.00 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 48.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.15%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.29, for a total transaction of $1,682,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,224 shares in the company, valued at $23,389,294.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 8,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.29, for a total transaction of $1,682,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,389,294.96. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.16, for a total transaction of $26,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,266,031.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,796 shares of company stock worth $8,623,028. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of VeriSign from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $245.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of VeriSign from $252.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

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