Prudential PLC Sells 16,285 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Prudential PLC lessened its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,285 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $141,129,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 544.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 914,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $189,274,000 after purchasing an additional 301,267 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of 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. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

VeriSign Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of VRSN opened at $240.20 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.05 and a twelve month high of $258.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $234.69 and a 200-day moving average of $206.83.

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

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.