Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 819 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth $558,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in VeriSign by 31.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 7.1% during the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 18,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.7% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,635 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,015,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 18.2% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,191 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other VeriSign news, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total value of $147,228.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $622,406.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total transaction of $204,168.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,855.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,067 shares of company stock worth $351,567 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 16th.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.0 %

VeriSign stock traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $176.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 658,177. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $220.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.35. The company has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45 and a beta of 0.90.

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

About VeriSign

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.