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

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,595 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying 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 hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 854 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,300,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,675,000. Finally, Asset Management Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management Advisors LLC now owns 28,670 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,446,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $240.47 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $242.23. The company has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.24.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign 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.