Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Increases Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 7.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 47,412 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,129,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in VeriSign by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $110,293,000 after acquiring an additional 120,958 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 527,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $100,214,000 after acquiring an additional 9,574 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 428,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,426,000 after acquiring an additional 46,677 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup upped their target price 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 upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $237.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $216.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.96. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $239.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share 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%.

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.