Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Trims Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,519 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 25,800 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned 0.09% of VeriSign worth $17,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 104,110 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,777,000 after acquiring an additional 5,303 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter valued at about $6,112,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 56.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,495 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 6,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $239.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 585,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,122. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $223.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.73. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.05 and a 1 year high of $242.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.