VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Bought by Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,595 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $240.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $220.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $242.23.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.