VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Baird R W

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was upgraded by analysts at Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $200.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.92. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $220.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.49.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) 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 for 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $233,320.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the 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 directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 291.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 117.2% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 202 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in VeriSign by 93.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.