MML Investors Services LLC Acquires 10,045 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 602.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 26.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after acquiring an additional 120,958 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 56.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 69,563 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 23,306 shares during the period. Ibex Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $622,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 104,110 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,777,000 after buying an additional 5,303 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $195.20 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.92. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $209.47.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. The company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’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 value of $402,563.56. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.