VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $237.38 and last traded at $234.29, with a volume of 84227 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $233.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.51.

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, 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 value of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in VeriSign by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,766 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Amiral Gestion purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $6,307,000. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $685,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,905 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.