Summit Global Investments Sells 10,756 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Summit Global Investments cut its VeriSign stake by 60.8% in the first quarter, selling 10,756 shares and leaving it with 6,923 shares valued at about $1.72 million.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions, and institutional ownership remains very high at 92.9% of VeriSign’s stock.
• Analysts are broadly positive on VeriSign: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $325.25, while recent insider sales included CEO D. James Bidzos and EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto.

Summit Global Investments lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,923 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,756 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments' holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 48.6% during the 1st quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,330,000 after purchasing an additional 7,020 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 22.6% in the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,636,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 25.5% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,885 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in VeriSign by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 410,773 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $102,029,000 after buying an additional 26,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,418 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.25.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,010.73. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $277.61 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $278.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.66. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign's registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.

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