Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,008 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,442 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.11% of VeriSign worth $22,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings 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 raised its holdings 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. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,665,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Down 6.0 %

VeriSign stock traded down $15.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $240.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,875,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,999. The stock's fifty day moving average is $234.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE 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.

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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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday.

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.