VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Position Raised by EntryPoint Capital LLC

EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,361 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised 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. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $245.81 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.24. The company has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $247.47.

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

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.