VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Sets New 52-Week Low at $172.51

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $172.51 and last traded at $174.00, with a volume of 133495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $188.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $119,737.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,143 shares in the company, valued at $8,427,122.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 52.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in VeriSign by 158.6% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 91.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 251.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 355 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About VeriSign

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.