Aristides Capital LLC Takes Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 3,996.0% in the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 322.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 602.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 6.0 %

VRSN opened at $240.20 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $234.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.20. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.05 and a twelve month high of $258.67.

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

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.