Hantz Financial Services Inc. Invests $538,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $207,161,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in VeriSign by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 643,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $121,888,000 after purchasing an additional 312,882 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 245.4% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 334,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $63,420,000 after purchasing an additional 237,770 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in VeriSign by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 546,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $103,531,000 after purchasing an additional 153,035 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 59.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 316,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,987,000 after purchasing an additional 117,597 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 3,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 37,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,177,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $183.90 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $220.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.57. The company has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The business had revenue of $387.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

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.