VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $240.52 and last traded at $239.38, with a volume of 206124 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $237.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $22.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.10.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in VeriSign by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 100,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,076,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 132,737 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $25,215,000 after buying an additional 3,588 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.