VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Position Decreased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 67.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 76,670 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 693,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $131,712,000 after acquiring an additional 47,412 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,129,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in VeriSign by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after purchasing an additional 120,958 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 527,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $100,214,000 after purchasing an additional 9,574 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 428,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,426,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $231.87 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $236.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.50. The stock has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

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.