107,680 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 107,680 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,285,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned approximately 0.11% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in VeriSign by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 10,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $6.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $254.74. 884,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 693,185. The firm has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.56. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $256.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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.