VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $242.52 and last traded at $242.21, with a volume of 659531 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $239.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Baird R W raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $226.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.24. The company has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

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Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 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.