VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stake Boosted by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,502 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $13,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 3.9% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $215.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $201.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.94. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $217.66.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

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.