VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $205.10. The company had a trading volume of 905,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 661,216. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $188.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.89. VeriSign has a 12-month low of $167.04 and a 12-month high of $208.04. The stock has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85 and a beta of 0.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,382,670. This represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in VeriSign by 93.2% in 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 lifted its position in VeriSign by 61.1% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 420 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.