VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 12-Month Low at $181.01

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $181.01 and last traded at $183.59, with a volume of 117961 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $185.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup reduced their price target on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $189.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.25.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a net margin of 54.74%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,930,124.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. CWM LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 12.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 15,683 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after acquiring an additional 4,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,439 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% 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.