Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $2.07 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in VeriSign by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after buying an additional 233,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 99.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $89,624,000 after purchasing an additional 220,106 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 471.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $49,220,000 after purchasing an additional 197,169 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $220,771,000 after purchasing an additional 125,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 16.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 749,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $151,802,000 after purchasing an additional 105,901 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $185.55 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.01 and a 1-year high of $229.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43 and a beta of 0.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.01 million. On average, equities analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total value of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,088,110. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

About VeriSign

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.