VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $246.00 to $250.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. VeriSign traded as high as $218.50 and last traded at $218.09, with a volume of 1400 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $216.02.

VRSN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird raised VeriSign from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 worth $81,003,000 after purchasing an additional 330,561 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 3,996.0% in the fourth quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 602.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 10,045 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $989,000. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 9,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $202.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.61.

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.