AlphaQuest LLC Acquires New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,885 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,645,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,056,268,000 after acquiring an additional 68,355 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in VeriSign by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,135,632,000 after buying an additional 73,931 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $670,685,000 after buying an additional 44,751 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,812,499.72. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.71, for a total value of $123,857.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,613 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,759.23. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,333 shares of company stock valued at $9,449,473. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $244.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $247.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.03. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.79 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.