VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 202,628 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,659 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.22% of VeriSign worth $50,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in VeriSign by 788.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in VeriSign by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. This trade represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of VRSN opened at $277.61 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $278.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.25.

About VeriSign

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.