Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,081 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,551 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $250.92 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $256.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $230.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.39. The firm has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released 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 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.