1,076,729 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,076,729 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $222,840,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.12% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign 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 directly owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $15.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $240.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,875,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,910. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $234.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $258.67.

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

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.