Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Grows Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,146 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.14% of VeriSign worth $27,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position 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 valued at $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter worth $35,665,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 383,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $79,286,000 after purchasing an additional 138,796 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock traded up $2.95 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $253.87. 767,932 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 722,547. The company has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $231.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.23. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $256.35.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 43.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSN. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.