VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $1,029,567.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.99, for a total value of $1,029,567.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 365,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,947,171.73. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, October 27th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.67, for a total value of $1,002,111.00.
• On Tuesday, October 20th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.30, for a total value of $1,010,790.00.
• On Tuesday, October 13th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.85, for a total value of $999,405.00.
• On Tuesday, October 6th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.33, for a total value of $964,689.00.
• On Tuesday, September 29th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.78, for a total value of $919,974.00.
• On Tuesday, September 22nd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total transaction of $1,005,642.00.
• On Tuesday, September 15th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.58, for a total transaction of $978,714.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total transaction of $938,520.00.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total transaction of $960,597.00.
• On Tuesday, August 25th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total transaction of $960,828.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $4.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $318.03. 1,446,283 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 840,837. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $324.20. The company has a market capitalization of $28.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.01.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 34.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 2,699 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 17,807 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,022,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) provides internet infrastructure services that support the global domain name system. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains and provides registry services for certain other domains, helping maintain the databases that connect domain names with internet addresses.

The company’s services include domain name registry operations, domain name registration-related support for accredited registrars, and infrastructure designed to improve the availability, stability, and security of internet naming services.