VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $63,957.50 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total value of $63,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,286,884.83. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of VRSN stock traded up $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $256.43. The company had a trading volume of 630,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 831,234. The business’s 50-day moving average is $279.97 and its 200 day moving average is $256.59. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.80%.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 788.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 222 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 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 report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has an average 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.