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 note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VRSN. Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of 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, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $2.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $240.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,090,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,711. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.70. The stock has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.90. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $167.04 and a 12 month high of $242.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 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.