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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total transaction of $916,905.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 401,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,525,933.65. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Tuesday, August 4th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total value of $978,582.00.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total transaction of $927,960.00.
• On Tuesday, July 21st, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total transaction of $892,452.00.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total transaction of $828,102.00.
• On Tuesday, June 23rd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00.
• On Tuesday, June 16th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $904,926.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00.
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ VRSN traded down $3.71 on Wednesday, reaching $273.03. The stock had a trading volume of 487,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,241. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $272.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.98. The company has a market capitalization of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $699,916,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

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.