Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires Shares of 19,577 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 19,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,032,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in VeriSign by 14.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after acquiring an additional 233,811 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 99.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $89,624,000 after acquiring an additional 220,106 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 471.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $220,771,000 after buying an additional 125,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 749,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $151,802,000 after buying an additional 105,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $168.91 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $229.72. The company has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.17.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,971,450. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,139 shares of company stock worth $2,731,971. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their price target 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 upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th.

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.