Swedbank AB Buys New Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Swedbank AB bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 47,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,005,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in VeriSign by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 25,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in VeriSign by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 64,675 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,279,000 after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 772,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $159,069,000 after acquiring an additional 22,796 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $564,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.4 %

VeriSign stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $187.71. The stock had a trading volume of 787,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 717,294. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $220.91.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $387.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.80 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 55.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.79 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, insider Timothy Tomlinson 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other VeriSign news, insider Timothy Tomlinson 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total value of $147,228.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $622,406.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,751 shares of company stock worth $1,051,527 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.