VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 206.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,032 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.06% of VeriSign worth $11,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign by 3.9% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 6.5% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 24,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,587,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $213.78 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $216.83. The company has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $200.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.58.

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.