VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $206.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07 and a beta of 0.92. VeriSign has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $209.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $189.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.23.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The business had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,670. This trade represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 1.9% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during 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.