Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 40.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,984 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 138.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,874,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 29.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $229.24 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $230.30. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $209.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.35.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.