Generali Investments Management Co LLC Invests $2.18 Million in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 3.9% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its position in VeriSign by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VRSN. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $239.82 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $242.23. The company has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $224.49 and a 200-day moving average of $201.12.

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

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.