VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos Sells 3,300 Shares

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $297.08 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $278.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Groupe la Francaise lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

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.