VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Given New $236.00 Price Target at Citigroup

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $237.00 to $236.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised VeriSign from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $2.08 on Tuesday, reaching $191.42. 831,424 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 570,313. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $185.19 and a 1-year high of $229.72. The company's 50 day moving average is $194.70 and its 200-day moving average is $202.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17 and a beta of 0.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.21, for a total transaction of $1,820,617.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 at the SEC website. In other VeriSign news, COO Todd B. Strubbe sold 9,423 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 111,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,552,768.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.12, for a total transaction of $121,447.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,019,193.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,387 shares of company stock worth $4,402,282. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2,628.6% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.