VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $237.38 and last traded at $234.29, with a volume of 84227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $213.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.51. The stock has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 0.90.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total transaction of $402,563.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its position in VeriSign by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,154 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $352,071,000 after buying an additional 35,326 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $273,853,000 after acquiring an additional 229,311 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in VeriSign by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $265,894,000 after acquiring an additional 116,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.