VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,234,855 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 61,604 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for about 3.2% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 5.13% of VeriSign worth $1,078,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,445,949 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,323,807,000 after buying an additional 59,957 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,693,236 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $780,492,000 after purchasing an additional 57,748 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 0.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,484,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,145,000 after purchasing an additional 13,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $119,737.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,427,122.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864 over the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $182.56. 231,997 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 568,361. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.57 and a 1-year high of $229.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.06.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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.