Swiss National Bank Increases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Swiss National Bank increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,840 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,560 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of VeriSign worth $60,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in VeriSign by 159.6% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,495,000 after purchasing an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,179,000 after purchasing an additional 11,249 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,636,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Wedbush began coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.25.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 26,300 shares of company stock worth $7,125,942 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 4.1%

VRSN opened at $266.15 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $278.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $258.82.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.