Tredje AP fonden Sells 7,568 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Tredje AP fonden cut its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,569 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,568 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 25.7% during the 4th 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 period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 953 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 190.1% in the 4th 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 period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $242.21. 657,983 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 683,901. The firm has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $224.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.12. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $244.77.

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

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.