VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 233,811 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $220,771,000 after purchasing an additional 125,901 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,056,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $214,073,000 after purchasing an additional 44,080 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $159,069,000 after purchasing an additional 22,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 660,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $133,764,000 after purchasing an additional 96,676 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign 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 transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $7,971,450. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,752 shares of company stock worth $2,853,989. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $168.32 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $229.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign 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.