Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 533 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $7,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Services increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,137 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $237.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.96. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $239.95. The firm has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.90.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.