Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 484 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,459 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,042,000 after acquiring an additional 25,639 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,941,000 after buying an additional 9,888 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in VeriSign by 41.4% in the third quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in VeriSign by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 85,196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,547,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 59.8% in the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 3,647 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total value of $122,017.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at $6,930,124.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,971,450. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $184.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $190.35 and its 200-day moving average is $200.63. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.57 and a 52 week high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. Sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

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.