VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Price Target Raised to $275.00 at Robert W. Baird

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $255.00 to $275.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.32% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on VRSN. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $253.87 on Tuesday. VeriSign has a one year low of $167.05 and a one year high of $257.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $231.27 and a 200 day moving average of $205.23. The company has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued 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%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in VeriSign by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.