VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $200.53 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.49. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $220.91. The company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,990. This trade represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock worth $1,102,524 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.