Swiss National Bank Has $51.37 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 248,200 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 17,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.26% of VeriSign worth $51,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 953 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 190.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 380 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $242.21. The company had a trading volume of 657,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,894. The company has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.12. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.05 and a one year high of $244.77.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

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.