Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,318 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 232,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,078,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 97.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,922 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,897,000 after acquiring an additional 11,822 shares during the period. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 14,109 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,920,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management Advisors LLC now owns 29,195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $222.24 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $224.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $205.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.84. The stock has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 44.06%.

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.