VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Separately, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN traded up $2.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $225.99. The stock had a trading volume of 450,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,864. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $215.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.27. VeriSign has a twelve month low of $155.25 and a twelve month high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The information services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $364.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.32 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 48.20% and a negative return on equity of 45.19%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that VeriSign will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total transaction of $450,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 601,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,399,532.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total transaction of $450,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 601,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,399,532.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen A. Cote sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.28, for a total transaction of $224,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,759 shares in the company, valued at $6,225,788.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,259 shares of company stock valued at $8,799,705 in the last ninety days. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Directions Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 88.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 708 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 91.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Company Profile

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VeriSign, Inc provides domain name registry services and Internet infrastructure, which enables Internet navigation for many of the world’s most recognized domain names. It enables the security, stability, and resiliency of key Internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services.