Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Price

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $210.00 to $238.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.75% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of VRSN opened at $205.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $210.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.57.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares in the company, valued at $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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Troy Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $109,040,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 836.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 473,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $84,133,000 after acquiring an additional 422,676 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,914,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $46,455,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $139,771,000 after purchasing an additional 242,884 shares during the last quarter. 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.