VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $245.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $265.00. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.85% from the stock’s previous close.
Separately, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th.
VeriSign Stock Up 1.2 %
Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $225.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.52 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.38. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $169.24 and a 12 month high of $229.72.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The information services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $364.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.32 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.19% and a net margin of 48.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that VeriSign will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at VeriSign
In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.67, for a total transaction of $1,123,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,642 shares in the company, valued at $136,069,588.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.67, for a total transaction of $1,123,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,642 shares in the company, valued at $136,069,588.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $136,357.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,499 shares in the company, valued at $8,994,017.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,895 shares of company stock valued at $8,616,699. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 22.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 10.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $767,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 15.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 35,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,545 shares during the period. 90.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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 the 13 internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.