VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto Sells 500 Shares of Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total value of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,363,670.54. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $279.57 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $282.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $255.51. The company has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during 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 revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 159.6% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at about $26,647,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 152.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,922,000 after acquiring an additional 186,029 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at about $5,139,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its position in VeriSign by 14.2% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,904,000 after acquiring an additional 10,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

About VeriSign

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.