VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $214.19 and last traded at $213.99, with a volume of 128792 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $210.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.58.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’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 approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 693,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $131,712,000 after buying an additional 47,412 shares during the period. Troy Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $109,040,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in VeriSign by 26.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after acquiring an additional 120,958 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 527,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $100,214,000 after acquiring an additional 9,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 428,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,426,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the period. 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.