StockNews.com Upgrades VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

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

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2 %

VeriSign stock opened at $211.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 0.89. VeriSign has a 52 week low of $167.04 and a 52 week high of $213.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.43.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 19.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 2.5% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 9,389 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 50.4% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 69,563 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after buying an additional 23,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $319,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.