Trexquant Investment LP Trims Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Trexquant Investment LP lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,634 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 26,336 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,840,000. Troy Asset Management Ltd grew its position in VeriSign by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $189,274,000 after acquiring an additional 301,267 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in VeriSign by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 702,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $148,604,000 after acquiring an additional 106,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $141,129,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $240.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $234.69 and a 200 day moving average of $206.83. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $258.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

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.