abrdn plc Acquires 12,029 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,085 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,029 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after buying an additional 233,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 99.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $89,624,000 after buying an additional 220,106 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 471.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $49,220,000 after buying an additional 197,169 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $220,771,000 after buying an additional 125,901 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 16.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 749,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $151,802,000 after buying an additional 105,901 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of VRSN opened at $175.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $189.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 0.88. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.51 and a 1-year high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $384.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.04% and a negative return on equity of 47.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,971,450. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.