Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,115 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 338 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Palo DS Manager LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,174,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 330,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,027,000 after purchasing an additional 111,911 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 614.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in VeriSign by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 107,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,320,000 after buying an additional 19,215 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1 %

VRSN stock opened at $181.74 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $220.91. The company has a market cap of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $178.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.75.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.80 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,177,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th.

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.