Everence Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,590 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 3.9% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 5.6% during the second quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 4.8% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $210.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $212.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.66.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.