VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Duality Advisers LP

Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 142.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,529 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up about 0.7% of Duality Advisers LP’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,042,000 after purchasing an additional 25,639 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,888 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in VeriSign by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in VeriSign by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 85,196 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,547,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $184.12. The stock had a trading volume of 609,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 566,085. The stock has a market cap of $18.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $181.57 and a one year high of $229.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. On average, research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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.