Andra AP fonden Has $3.88 Million Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Andra AP fonden reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 88.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,619 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 119,161 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in VeriSign by 191.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after buying an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 422,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,513,229.51. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at $9,706,010.73. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush assumed coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

VRSN stock opened at $262.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.52 and a 200 day moving average of $258.96.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.