Swiss National Bank Sells 17,900 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 248,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 17,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.26% of VeriSign worth $51,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.1 %

VeriSign stock opened at $238.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $223.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.20. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $242.23. The company has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79 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 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.