First Trust Advisors LP Has $67.66 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 326,932 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,773 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.34% of VeriSign worth $67,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $248.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $241.47 and a 200-day moving average of $212.54. The company has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $258.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.