Hantz Financial Services Inc. Buys 81 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 38,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,968,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 36,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 206.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 53,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,077,000 after acquiring an additional 36,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 570 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5 %

VeriSign stock opened at $215.00 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $217.66. The firm has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $201.49 and a 200-day moving average of $188.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 report 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 other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.