Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 32,677 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 37.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,677 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $21,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $67,914,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in VeriSign by 94.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $121,888,000 after acquiring an additional 312,882 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 245.4% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 334,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,420,000 after acquiring an additional 237,770 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 38.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $103,531,000 after buying an additional 153,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 316,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,987,000 after buying an additional 117,597 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $699,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares in the company, valued at $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $181.22 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $180.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $220.91.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

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.