VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $169.48 on Monday. VeriSign has a 52 week low of $169.36 and a 52 week high of $229.72. The company has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.39.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.04% and a negative return on equity of 47.21%. The firm had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $119,737.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,427,122.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,500.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $119,737.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,427,122.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,042,000 after acquiring an additional 25,639 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its stake in VeriSign by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,153,000 after acquiring an additional 17,529 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,888 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its stake in VeriSign by 41.4% in the third quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 85,196 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,547,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 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.