PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Verisign were worth $1,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI boosted its stake in shares of Verisign by 675.0% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI now owns 155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verisign by 189.5% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Verisign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in Verisign by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 244 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allred Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verisign by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Allred Capital Management LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Verisign stock opened at $208.22 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.49. Verisign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.77 and a twelve month high of $221.78. The stock has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26 and a beta of 0.92.

Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.23. Verisign had a net margin of 63.33% and a negative return on equity of 54.28%. The firm had revenue of $313.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Verisign, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Verisign from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisign from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Verisign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $216.00 price target for the company in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Cfra upped their price objective on Verisign from $199.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BidaskClub downgraded Verisign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Verisign has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.25.

In other Verisign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.09, for a total value of $3,211,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,801,540.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kathleen A. Cote sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.72, for a total transaction of $429,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,924,934.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,300 shares of company stock valued at $4,951,505. 1.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc provides domain name registry services and Internet infrastructure in the United States and internationally. The company offers registry services that operate the authoritative directory of and/or the back-end systems for .com, .net, .cc, .tv, .gov, .jobs, .edu, .name, and other domain names.

Recommended Story: High-Yield Dividend Stocks