Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Has $568,000 Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,745 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises about 0.3% of Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Troy Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $109,040,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in VeriSign by 836.8% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 473,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $84,133,000 after acquiring an additional 422,676 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in VeriSign by 544.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $46,455,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $139,771,000 after purchasing an additional 242,884 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $209.00 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.16. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $213.68. The firm has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30 and a beta of 0.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.