GraniteShares Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,458 VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,458 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 138.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,912 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in VeriSign by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,307,000 after buying an additional 5,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in VeriSign by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 38,400 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,294,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other 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 transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $2.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $237.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,328,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,487. The firm has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.48 and a 200-day moving average of $195.96. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $239.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (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%.

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.