VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Price Target Raised at Wedbush

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Wedbush from $351.00 to $367.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Wedbush‘s price target points to a potential upside of 21.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.00.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.3%

VeriSign stock opened at $301.17 on Monday. VeriSign has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $293.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.64. The firm has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.97 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total transaction of $960,597.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 394,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,959,300.43. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 43,100 shares of company stock worth $12,574,391 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% 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 the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 12,327 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,476,000 after purchasing an additional 7,130 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,765 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,044,157,000 after purchasing an additional 73,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) provides internet infrastructure services that support the global domain name system. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains and provides registry services for certain other domains, helping maintain the databases that connect domain names with internet addresses.

The company’s services include domain name registry operations, domain name registration-related support for accredited registrars, and infrastructure designed to improve the availability, stability, and security of internet naming services.