VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $210.00 to $238.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the information services provider's stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on VRSN. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $205.62. 850,160 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 881,930. The firm has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $190.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.57. VeriSign has a fifty-two week low of $167.04 and a fifty-two week high of $210.22.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Tobam grew its stake in VeriSign by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 311 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.