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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 439,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $293.79 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.21.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $312,900,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after acquiring an additional 861,065 shares in the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 394.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $154,325,000 after acquiring an additional 440,289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.