Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 120 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,568 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $201,956,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,152,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,934,092,000 after purchasing an additional 587,635 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after purchasing an additional 233,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 99.0% in the third 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, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 471.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $49,220,000 after purchasing an additional 197,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $184.12 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.57 and a 12 month high of $229.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,500.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,500.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.