Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $8.57 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) by 226.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,735 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,950 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at about $767,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,545 shares during the period. 91.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $223.85 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $155.25 and a one year high of $229.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.27.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The information services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.19% and a net margin of 48.20%. The business had revenue of $364.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $122,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,159,800. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total transaction of $450,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 601,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,399,532.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $122,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,159,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,259 shares of company stock valued at $8,799,705 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Profile

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VeriSign, Inc provides domain name registry services and Internet infrastructure, which enables Internet navigation for many of the world’s most recognized domain names. It enables the security, stability, and resiliency of key Internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services.