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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of VeriSign from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $188.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total value of $1,820,617.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,877 shares of company stock worth $2,878,864 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $207,161,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,826,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $369,989,000 after purchasing an additional 233,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 99.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $89,624,000 after acquiring an additional 220,106 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 471.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $49,220,000 after acquiring an additional 197,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 13.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,090,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $220,771,000 after acquiring an additional 125,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.