VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

VRSN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Baird R W raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of VRSN traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $255.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,450,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 725,856. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.43. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $167.05 and a 12 month high of $258.72. The company has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in VeriSign by 156.4% during the first 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. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $260,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 24.0% during 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 during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings 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 purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $516,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.