VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Short Interest Update

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,220,000 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the February 28th total of 1,820,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 805,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN traded down $15.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $240.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,875,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,999. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $234.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.20. VeriSign has a 1 year low of $167.05 and a 1 year high of $258.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (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 Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $222,840,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,129,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 268.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after purchasing an additional 504,748 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday.

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.