AGF Management Ltd. Has $2.48 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,249 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 291.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in VeriSign by 117.2% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 55.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 327 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 16th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $182.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.97 and a 200-day moving average of $180.84. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $220.91.

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 business had revenue of $387.10 million during 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%. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.79 earnings per share.

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.