5,885 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,885 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,645,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total value of $1,240,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 453,439 shares in the company, valued at $112,516,353.46. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,333 shares of company stock worth $9,449,473. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $244.23 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $247.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.03. The stock has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $211.79 and a one year high of $310.60.

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.