Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lessened its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,524 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $201,956,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,152,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,934,092,000 after buying an additional 587,635 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $369,989,000 after buying an additional 233,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $89,624,000 after purchasing an additional 220,106 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 450,195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $95,140,000 after purchasing an additional 187,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total value of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total value of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864 in the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $182.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.93. The stock has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.57 and a 1 year high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup cut their price target on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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