Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,655 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,672 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 64,675 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,279,000 after buying an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,682 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,491,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 15,051 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.35, for a total value of $402,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,306 shares in the company, valued at $100,736,613.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,088,110. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.35, for a total value of $402,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,736,613.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,877 shares of company stock worth $3,281,564 over the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $1.06 on Wednesday, hitting $181.57. The company had a trading volume of 520,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,063. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.57 and a 52-week high of $229.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $191.22 and a 200 day moving average of $201.06. The company has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 0.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.01 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Company 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.