VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 56.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 383,100 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 138,796 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.40% of VeriSign worth $79,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% in 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. Tobam grew its stake in VeriSign by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 311 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 138.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 16,966.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 512 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their target price 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 VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $210.68. 466,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,436. The company has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average is $195.37 and its 200-day moving average is $186.33. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $213.68.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The business had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.