Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,807 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,636 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.10% of VeriSign worth $17,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,161,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in VeriSign by 94.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $121,888,000 after buying an additional 312,882 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 245.4% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 334,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,420,000 after buying an additional 237,770 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in VeriSign by 38.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $103,531,000 after buying an additional 153,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in VeriSign by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 316,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $64,987,000 after buying an additional 117,597 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $179.97 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $220.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $179.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $387.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.80 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th.

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.