VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.
Several other brokerages have also commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.00.
View Our Latest Analysis on VeriSign
VeriSign Price Performance
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total transaction of $1,005,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 385,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,333,127.98. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total value of $144,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,511,918.20. This trade represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,260,689 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,044,157,000 after buying an additional 73,583 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $699,916,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.
VeriSign’s services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.
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