Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 38,036 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,042 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 38,036 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.11% of VeriSign worth $19,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,472,803 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $261,864,000 after acquiring an additional 11,606 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.8% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 881,366 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $156,707,000 after purchasing an additional 48,344 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $139,771,000 after purchasing an additional 242,884 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 693,369 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $131,712,000 after buying an additional 47,412 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in VeriSign by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 660,191 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,382,000 after buying an additional 17,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.8 %

VeriSign stock traded up $5.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $198.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,730,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,077. The stock's 50 day moving average is $186.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $208.04. The stock has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $466,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,990. This trade represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports 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 upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign 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.