VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $211.30 and last traded at $210.89, with a volume of 183902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.62.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $233,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,382,670. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 1.9% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 5.6% in the second quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 4.8% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 6.5% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $191.68 and a 200 day moving average of $185.06. The firm has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS.

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.