Analysts Set VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Target Price at $292.00

Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $292.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $79,885.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,551,651.52. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total transaction of $496,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 414,099 shares in the company, valued at $102,812,499.72. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,338,621. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 8.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after buying an additional 321,737 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,247,000 after acquiring an additional 246,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $312,900,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $247.48 on Friday. VeriSign has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $235.59 and its 200-day moving average is $248.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.78%.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.