Analyst Update: Verisign, Inc., Resolute Energy Corp, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR)

Analysts are weighing in on Internet stock Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN), oil-and-gas stock Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN), and biotech Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on VRSN, REN, and TEVA.

• VRSN is up 6.5% at $79.69, after Cowen analyst Gregg Moskowitz said he believes the web domain and cybersecurity firm is unlikely to be affected by Senator Ted Cruz's objection to extending VRSN's contract with the Department of Justice. Further, the analyst thinks VRSN is on track to have a stronger quarter than originally anticipated, and maintained a "market perform" rating, as well as an $80 price target for VRSN. Technically, VRSN is set to break north of the narrow trading range it's been trapped in since a bear gap in mid-August, and earlier rallied as high as $82.88. Short sellers could be kicking rocks today, however, with 19.9% of VRSN's float sold short -- which would take almost five weeks of trading to cover, at VRSN's average daily volume.

• REN is up 21.9% at $21.45 -- and earlier touched a new annual high of $21.82 -- as the oil-and-gas stock continues its charge upwards. In yet another show of bullish analyst attention, Capital One Securities hiked the stock's price target to $17 from $11 -- a more than a 50% increase. REN has surged a staggering 633% since the beginning of July, with the shares decisively breaking out of the $3-$4 level that had contained them since July 2015. There's probably a few option bears not happy about the stock's recent surge, with Resolute Energy Corp's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) showing 3.22 puts bought to open for every call option. Likewise, short interest shot up by over 47.5% during the last reporting period, and now represents more than 14% of REN's total available float..

• TEVA is up 0.7% at $51.27, after Oppenheimer raised its rating to "outperform" for the biopharmaceutical company, despite recently losing a third patent on its MS drug, Copaxone. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs last night cut TEVA's price target to $58 from $60. TEVA is down over 20% year-over-year, with recent rebound attempts contained by their 32-week moving average. With 11 of 16 analysts rating the shares a "buy" or better, a round of bearish analyst attention could serve to push Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) even lower.