Overbrook Management Corp Boosts Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Overbrook Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,670 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. VeriSign makes up 3.4% of Overbrook Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Overbrook Management Corp owned about 0.08% of VeriSign worth $17,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after acquiring an additional 233,811 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $220,771,000 after acquiring an additional 125,901 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,056,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $214,073,000 after acquiring an additional 44,080 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $159,069,000 after acquiring an additional 22,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in VeriSign by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 660,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $133,764,000 after purchasing an additional 96,676 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $2.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $182.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,649,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,464. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $189.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.25. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.01 and a 52-week high of $229.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 0.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.01 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

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.