VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Upgraded at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised shares of VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $200.00 on Monday. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $220.91. The company has a market capitalization of $19.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.74% and a negative return on equity of 45.59%. The company had revenue of $390.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $233,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,382,670. This represents a 3.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,776 shares of company stock worth $1,102,524. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 26.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 580,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,293,000 after buying an additional 120,958 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in VeriSign by 89.8% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 21,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,126,000 after acquiring an additional 10,277 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 6,303 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 73.3% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,051 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 8,055 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 69,563 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 23,306 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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 thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.