VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $240.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.87. VeriSign has a 52-week low of $167.05 and a 52-week high of $258.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $234.69 and a 200 day moving average of $206.83.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 156.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $260,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in VeriSign by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 135,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.