Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $1.62 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 43.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,621,000 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. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird raised shares of 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. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $245.81 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.05 and a 52-week high of $247.47. The firm has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $227.92 and its 200-day moving average is $203.24.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced 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%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.