Nordea Investment Management AB Trims Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,474 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,948 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,956,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 6.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,152,000 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,934,092,000 after buying an additional 587,635 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 123.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 563,787 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $127,399,000 after acquiring an additional 311,502 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in VeriSign by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $369,989,000 after acquiring an additional 233,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 99.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $89,624,000 after acquiring an additional 220,106 shares during the last quarter. 90.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of VeriSign from $238.00 to $237.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $25,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,824. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $25,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,876,824. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 508,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,661,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,512 shares of company stock worth $4,427,782. Insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $1.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $188.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 491,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 564,418. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.36 and a 52 week high of $229.72. The company has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.86.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. As a group, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

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.