VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $232.04 and last traded at $230.74, with a volume of 127695 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $229.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Baird R W upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.21. The firm has a market cap of $22.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The information services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.00. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in VeriSign by 544.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 391,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $81,003,000 after buying an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3,996.0% during the 4th quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 3,996 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 322.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 261,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,639,000 after purchasing an additional 199,583 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 602.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 10,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $989,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.