VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Position Reduced by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd reduced its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,247 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 968 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $2,162,000. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 29,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $600,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 133,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,556,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.9 %

VRSN stock opened at $248.13 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $228.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.56. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $249.43. The company has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02 and a beta of 0.87.

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

VeriSign 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.