Bank of Montreal Can Trims Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 105,482 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 43,642 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $21,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.8 %

VeriSign stock opened at $247.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.05 and a twelve month high of $258.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

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.