VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Short Interest Down 16.7% in January

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,600,000 shares, a drop of 16.7% from the January 15th total of 1,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 688,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 93.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W upgraded 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 boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $229.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $208.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.98. VeriSign has a 52-week low of $167.04 and a 52-week high of $230.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 50.47%.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.