VerifyMe, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRME) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

VerifyMe, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRME) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 366,412 shares, a drop of 26.0% from the February 26th total of 494,954 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 235,167 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

VerifyMe Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of VRME opened at $0.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.01 and a 200 day moving average of $0.94. VerifyMe has a twelve month low of $0.55 and a twelve month high of $1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $9.59 million, a P/E ratio of -2.03 and a beta of 0.39.

VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.03). VerifyMe had a negative net margin of 21.78% and a negative return on equity of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that VerifyMe will post -0.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VerifyMe

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 24,793 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VerifyMe in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VerifyMe in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in VerifyMe by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 26,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of VerifyMe by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 380,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 158,697 shares in the last quarter. 8.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research lifted their target price on VerifyMe from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of VerifyMe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of VerifyMe in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VerifyMe to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1.50.

VerifyMe Company Profile

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.