Norges Bank Makes New $222.84 Million Investment in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,076,729 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,840,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.12% of VeriSign as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $250.92 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $256.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

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.