D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 11,606 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,472,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,606 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 1.51% of VeriSign worth $261,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $67,914,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in VeriSign by 94.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $121,888,000 after buying an additional 312,882 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 44.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $139,771,000 after acquiring an additional 242,884 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 245.4% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 334,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $63,420,000 after acquiring an additional 237,770 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in VeriSign by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $103,531,000 after purchasing an additional 153,035 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $182.44 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $220.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Company 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.