VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 102,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,036 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $19,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,204,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 54.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 27,175 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth about $130,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 69,175 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 3,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 45,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,607,000 after purchasing an additional 15,626 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0 %

VRSN stock opened at $193.44 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $208.04. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.75.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of 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 upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

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.