Insider Selling: VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $204,168.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $175.07 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.25 and its 200 day moving average is $195.61. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $228.76. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,042,000 after purchasing an additional 25,639 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 614.0% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 15,672 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 13,477 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,153,000 after acquiring an additional 17,529 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP increased its stake in VeriSign by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company 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.