Korea Investment CORP Has $6.20 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 42.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $253.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $167.05 and a 52-week high of $256.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.23.

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%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % 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. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign 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.