Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $67,307.50 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total value of $67,307.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,010.73. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $269.98. The stock had a trading volume of 796,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 829,233. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $279.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.14. The company has a market cap of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 104.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.67.

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.