Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,802 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.07% of VeriSign worth $14,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

VeriSign Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $244.51 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $245.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.12. The firm has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.