VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) hit a new 52-week high on Monday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $211.30 and last traded at $210.89, with a volume of 183902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.62.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $233,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Troy Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,040,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 836.8% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 473,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $84,133,000 after buying an additional 422,676 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth $67,914,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in VeriSign by 544.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,003,000 after acquiring an additional 330,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,455,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.06. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.89.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share.

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.