Allianz SE Acquires New Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,922 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 18.5% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 3,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,444,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in VeriSign by 71.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 71,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,609,000 after purchasing an additional 29,876 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in VeriSign by 27.8% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $250.92 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $230.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.56. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.05 and a 12-month high of $256.35. The company has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.37 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

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.