VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,675 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.06% of VeriSign worth $13,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,682 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,491,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 15,051 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 6,798 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 508,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,661,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 508,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,661,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,388 shares of company stock worth $4,397,494 in the last ninety days. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $189.69. 655,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,059. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $185.19 and a 52-week high of $229.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.81. The company has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 0.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $381.01 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share 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.