VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $275.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. VeriSign traded as high as $256.90 and last traded at $257.39, with a volume of 59994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.87.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth about $1,444,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 24,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,587,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in VeriSign by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,441 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 542.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 37,635 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,149,000 after acquiring an additional 31,775 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $231.27 and a 200-day moving average of $205.23. The stock has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.