VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $238.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. VeriSign traded as high as $211.30 and last traded at $210.89, with a volume of 183902 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $205.62.

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

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Tobam lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 311 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $190.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.66.

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

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.