Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Has $231,000 Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,114 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 693,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $131,712,000 after purchasing an additional 47,412 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $141,129,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after buying an additional 120,958 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 527,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $100,214,000 after buying an additional 9,574 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 428,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,426,000 after buying an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

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 transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $235.03 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.52. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $239.95. The company has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.