VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 716 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in VeriSign by 544.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3,996.0% during the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 602.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $989,000. Finally, Burney Co. lifted its position in VeriSign by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 9,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,875,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $213.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $216.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign 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 value of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.