VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 130.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,163 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,024 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,445,949 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,323,807,000 after acquiring an additional 59,957 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of 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. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,693,236 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $780,492,000 after buying an additional 57,748 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $369,989,000 after buying an additional 233,811 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,484,066 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $330,145,000 after buying an additional 13,379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at $8,088,110. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.58, for a total transaction of $407,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 504,306 shares in the company, valued at $102,666,615.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,002 shares of company stock worth $3,714,154. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $4.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $185.43. 484,075 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 565,508. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $185.19 and a one year high of $229.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $192.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.47. The company has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41 and a beta of 0.88.

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