Ninety One UK Ltd Has $1.08 Billion Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,234,855 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 61,604 shares during the period. VeriSign accounts for approximately 3.2% of Ninety One UK Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 5.13% of VeriSign worth $1,078,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,956,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,152,000 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,934,092,000 after purchasing an additional 587,635 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 valued at $369,989,000 after purchasing an additional 233,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 220,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in VeriSign by 471.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $49,220,000 after purchasing an additional 197,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864 in the last quarter. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $182.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 594,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,346. The firm's 50-day moving average is $191.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.06. The company has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.57 and a 1-year high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.