VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's Why

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $224.38 and last traded at $224.19, with a volume of 82705 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $222.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50 day moving average is $209.13 and its 200 day moving average is $192.27.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 44.06%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,101,000. Cypress Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 4,149.6% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 94,935 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,648,000 after purchasing an additional 92,701 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,722,000. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,268,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

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.