MQS Management LLC Has $308,000 Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

MQS Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 498 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Quarry LP bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $77,000. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

VeriSign Stock Up 1.8 %

VeriSign stock traded up $3.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $179.90. 208,943 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 663,433. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $220.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.08. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 47.21% and a net margin of 55.04%. The business had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.80 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.79 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

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

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.