Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $12.25 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,453 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,457 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $12,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% in the 3rd 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. 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,056,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $214,073,000 after buying an additional 44,080 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $159,069,000 after buying an additional 22,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 660,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $133,764,000 after buying an additional 96,676 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reduced their price objective on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $184.68. The company had a trading volume of 193,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 568,625. The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.35 and a 200 day moving average of $200.63. The firm has a market cap of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.57 and a 1-year high of $229.72.

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

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.