VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 38.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,502 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.07% of VeriSign worth $13,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Tobam increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 16,966.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 512 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5 %

VRSN stock opened at $215.00 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $217.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $201.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 0.89.

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.