Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 5,486 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,486 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in VeriSign by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.9 %

VeriSign stock opened at $231.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $212.33 and a 200 day moving average of $193.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $236.20.

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

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.