Pensionfund Sabic Takes $1.35 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,500 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,345,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.6% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 53,813 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $2,696,000. Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,612 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,382,670. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.7 %

VeriSign stock traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $209.22. 872,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,559. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $213.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $191.07 and a 200 day moving average of $184.87. The firm has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. VeriSign's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

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.