VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Rating Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

VRSN has been the topic of several other research reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $291.88 on Wednesday. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $287.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.20. The company has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total transaction of $144,580.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,511,918.20. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total transaction of $1,005,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 385,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,333,127.98. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,800 shares of company stock worth $11,260,689 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 40.5% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.

VeriSign’s services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.