GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 460 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 29.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,025 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 602.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after buying an additional 10,045 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in VeriSign by 26.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after acquiring an additional 120,958 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 89.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 21,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,126,000 after acquiring an additional 10,277 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 59.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 102,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,224,000 after purchasing an additional 38,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 73.3% during the third quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,051 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 8,055 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $205.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $210.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.61.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The business had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.