Soros Capital Management LLC Purchases 32,907 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Soros Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 234.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,954 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,907 shares during the quarter. VeriSign accounts for about 1.5% of Soros Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Soros Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $246.67 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $240.81 and a 200-day moving average of $211.91. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $258.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.