Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 199,583 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 322.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 261,526 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.27% of VeriSign worth $53,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 3,996.0% in the 4th quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 602.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $989,000. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $1,345,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN traded down $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $229.24. 730,444 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 639,599. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $209.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.35. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $230.30. The stock has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock 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.