Bank of Montreal Can Has $28.28 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 86.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 157,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,218 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $28,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 291.1% in 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 period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 117.2% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 55.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 327 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $190.64 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.02 and a 200-day moving average of $180.19. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $220.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.