Machina Capital S.A.S. Grows Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 502.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,702 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after buying an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $124,066,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 496.3% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 352,481 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $101,797,000 after acquiring an additional 293,373 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 453,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,516,353.46. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 38,497 shares of company stock valued at $9,491,845 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $240.96 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.24. The stock has a market cap of $22.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08 and a beta of 0.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.43 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.