Stifel Financial Corp Cuts Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 291.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 117.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $198.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $186.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.91. The company has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.92. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $208.04.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,776 shares of company stock worth $1,102,524 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

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.