VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Short Interest Up 18.2% in February

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,820,000 shares, a growth of 18.2% from the February 13th total of 1,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 759,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $242.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $225.72 and a 200-day moving average of $201.69. VeriSign has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $243.05.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

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.