VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Given New $308.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its target price increased by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $285.00 to $308.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the information services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.58% from the stock’s previous close.

VRSN has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, hitting $264.19. 421,682 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,406. The company has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $283.66 and a 200 day moving average of $256.08. VeriSign has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $904,926.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 432,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,665,688.58. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 16,896 shares of company stock worth $4,739,271 over the last three months. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth approximately $26,647,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 152.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,922,000 after acquiring an additional 186,029 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,904,000 after acquiring an additional 10,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sienna Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,139,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.