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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 429,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,728,474.67. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, June 16th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were 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 value of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $252.08 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $282.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.22. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The company has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.69.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during 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 lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.67.

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.