M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,677 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 62.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,816 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 291.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 15.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 28,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,080,000 after purchasing an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $576,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in VeriSign by 5.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $195.20 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $209.47. The firm has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.46.

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,990. This represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,776 shares of company stock worth $1,102,524 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.