Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Boosts Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,103 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,639 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.27% of VeriSign worth $56,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,956,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 6.9% in 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. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 233,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 99.0% during 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 period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 197,169 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.6 %

VeriSign stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $184.12. 609,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,819. The company has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $190.86 and its 200 day moving average is $200.93. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.57 and a 52 week high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $381.01 million. Equities analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,971,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign 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.