VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Acquired by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 75.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,766 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,830 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.11% of VeriSign worth $22,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $248.13 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.05 and a 1-year high of $249.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.56. The company has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on 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 raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.