StockNews.com Downgrades VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) to Hold

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock 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 research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $242.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $225.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.69. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $243.05.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter worth about $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $392,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,832 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently 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.