VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Purchased by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,359,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned about 1.41% of VeriSign worth $281,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

VeriSign Stock Down 2.4 %

VRSN stock opened at $234.49 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.05 and a 52-week high of $258.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $235.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.