VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $200.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $185.07 and its 200 day moving average is $181.49. VeriSign has a twelve month low of $167.04 and a twelve month high of $220.91.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,670. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 291.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 117.2% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in VeriSign by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.