Whipplewood Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 125 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3,996.0% during the 4th quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 3,996 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,639,000 after acquiring an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 602.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of VRSN opened at $237.88 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.11. The company has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $239.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

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.