C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Buys New Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 681,912 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $141,129,000. VeriSign comprises about 6.6% of C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors owned about 0.71% of VeriSign as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in VeriSign by 544.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3,996.0% during the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 3,996 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 602.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 10,045 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $989,000. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $1,345,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VRSN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $229.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 730,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,599. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $230.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.31. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 44.06%.

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.