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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $242.52 and last traded at $242.21, with a volume of 659531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $239.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upgraded VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $225.72 and a 200-day moving average of $201.69. The company has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total transaction of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,586.25. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is 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.