Shariaportfolio Inc. Reduces Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Shariaportfolio Inc. decreased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,660 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up about 0.9% of Shariaportfolio Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Shariaportfolio Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew 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 buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its position 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 valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 272 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.9 %

VeriSign stock opened at $231.87 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $236.20.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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.