VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $488,500.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.25, for a total transaction of $488,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 423,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,341,930.75. The trade was a 0.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, December 16th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.79, for a total value of $1,208,950.00.
• On Wednesday, December 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.07, for a total value of $484,140.00.
• On Tuesday, December 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00.
• On Wednesday, November 19th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total value of $492,100.00.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $1,250,250.00.
• On Wednesday, November 12th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $502,540.00.
• On Tuesday, November 11th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00.
• On Wednesday, October 22nd, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total transaction of $523,080.00.
• On Tuesday, October 21st, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.43, for a total transaction of $1,337,150.00.
• On Wednesday, October 15th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total transaction of $528,120.00.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.5%

VRSN stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $244.39. 799,969 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 879,630. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $249.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.82. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $191.12 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $348,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in VeriSign by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,712 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Tevis Investment Management acquired a new position in VeriSign in the third quarter worth $316,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth $1,561,000. Finally, Investment Research Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at $427,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.67.

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.