Zacks Research Downgrades VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) to Hold

VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of VerifyMe from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of VerifyMe in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1.50.

VerifyMe Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRME opened at $0.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.37 million, a P/E ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 0.36. VerifyMe has a 52 week low of $0.55 and a 52 week high of $1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $0.94 and a 200-day moving average of $0.93.

VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 million. VerifyMe had a negative return on equity of 11.64% and a negative net margin of 21.78%. Equities research analysts forecast that VerifyMe will post -0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VerifyMe in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of VerifyMe by 235.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 35,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 24,793 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of VerifyMe in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VerifyMe in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in VerifyMe by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 380,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 158,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 8.79% of the company’s stock.

About VerifyMe

VerifyMe, Inc (NASDAQ: VRME) provides authentication and brand protection solutions to help companies secure products, packaging and digital credentials against counterfeiting, diversion and tampering. The company’s offerings combine physical authentication technologies—such as secure printing, invisible inks, RFID/NFC tags and direct part marking—with cloud-based software to create end-to-end track-and-trace capabilities. These integrated solutions enable customers to verify authenticity at every stage of the supply chain, from manufacturing through distribution and retail.

Key product lines include on-demand secure printers and customized label materials, embedded secure elements for item-level tagging, and a centralized data management platform that supports real-time analytics, consumer engagement and regulatory compliance.