StockNews.com Downgrades VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $171.17 on Thursday. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $228.26. The company has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.17.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 47.21% and a net margin of 55.04%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.19, for a total value of $558,296.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,895 shares in the company, valued at $5,999,500.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,855.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,170 shares of company stock valued at $1,143,183 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 272,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $56,042,000 after acquiring an additional 25,639 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 614.0% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 15,672 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,228,000 after buying an additional 13,477 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,153,000 after buying an additional 17,529 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 72,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,941,000 after buying an additional 9,888 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 41.4% in the third quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.