StockNews.com Upgrades VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) to Buy

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $210.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised 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 report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $209.22. 872,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,559. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.87. VeriSign has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $213.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 0.89.

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. The firm had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The business's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,382,670. This represents a 3.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 226 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Tobam increased its position in VeriSign by 61.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at $76,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 138.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors 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.