VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Rating Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded VeriSign from “strong buy” to “hold,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $333.
• VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.38, exceeding estimates of $2.36, while revenue rose 6% year over year to $434.6 million.
• Institutional investors own 92.9% of the company, with Berkshire Hathaway and BlackRock establishing multibillion-dollar positions; insiders, meanwhile, sold 39,800 shares worth about $11.3 million over the past quarter.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on VRSN. Wedbush lifted their price target on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $333.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $291.88 on Wednesday. VeriSign has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $287.91 and a 200-day moving average of $276.20. The company has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that VeriSign will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total transaction of $1,005,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 385,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,333,127.98. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total transaction of $144,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,511,918.20. This trade represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $11,260,689. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp increased its position in VeriSign by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,044,157,000 after buying an additional 73,583 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 1.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $699,916,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at about $312,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.

VeriSign's services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.

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