VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $280.00 to $295.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.88% from the stock’s current price.

VRSN has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $8.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $259.05. 275,728 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,782. VeriSign has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.07. The firm has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,275,771.80. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.78, for a total transaction of $115,426.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,689.84. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,490 shares of company stock worth $2,338,621. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth about $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $894,414,000 after purchasing an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $149,686,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $154,325,000 after buying an additional 440,289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.