VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Position Decreased by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,074 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth $76,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $229.24 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $230.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.98. The company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS 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 44.06%.

About VeriSign

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.