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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $240.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign has a 52 week low of $167.05 and a 52 week high of $258.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $234.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.00.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted 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 net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its position in VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $352,071,000 after purchasing an additional 35,326 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,853,000 after buying an additional 229,311 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in VeriSign by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $265,894,000 after buying an additional 116,833 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About VeriSign

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.