Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $2.07 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 46,085 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,492,000 after purchasing an additional 12,029 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,459 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $185.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.37. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.01 and a 12 month high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864 in the last quarter. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About VeriSign

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.