VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Earns “Neutral” Rating from Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird reiterated their neutral rating on shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $200.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of VeriSign from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $177.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.17. The company has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.91. VeriSign has a 1 year low of $167.04 and a 1 year high of $226.80.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $384.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.85 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 55.04% and a negative return on equity of 47.21%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,855.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 1,200 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.14, for a total value of $204,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,855.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Yehuda Ari Buchalter sold 866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.01, for a total transaction of $147,228.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $622,406.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,295 shares of company stock worth $584,887. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 18,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,651,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 10,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 18,931 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $1,045,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.