VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 97.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,922 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,822 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $46,455,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $35,665,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in VeriSign by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 383,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $79,286,000 after purchasing an additional 138,796 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $110,293,000 after buying an additional 120,958 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $227.49. 932,649 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 747,277. The stock has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50-day moving average is $206.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $228.45.

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

VeriSign Company 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.