VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Bought by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in VeriSign by 544.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 330,561 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 3,996.0% during the 4th quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 602.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $989,000. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,345,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $227.38 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $227.50.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by 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.