VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $246.00 to $250.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. VeriSign traded as high as $218.50 and last traded at $218.09, with a volume of 1400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $216.02.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 693,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $131,712,000 after acquiring an additional 47,412 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,129,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in VeriSign by 26.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $110,293,000 after purchasing an additional 120,958 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 527,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $100,214,000 after purchasing an additional 9,574 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 12.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 428,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $81,426,000 after buying an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $202.86 and its 200-day moving average is $189.61.

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.