VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VRSN. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $244.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign has a fifty-two week low of $167.05 and a fifty-two week high of $245.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.