VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Holdings Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,639 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $56,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 22.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 10.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $767,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 15.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 14.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,999,500.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total transaction of $558,296.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,999,500.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $119,737.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,427,122.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $182.96 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.57 and a twelve month high of $229.72. The company has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.93.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The company had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.01 million. As a group, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.