Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 1,294 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,294 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,513 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,077,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 4.0% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 5.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 16th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $186.40 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $220.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The company had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,990. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,990. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $699,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,177,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.