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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.45, for a total value of $146,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,051 shares in the company, valued at $10,872,615.95. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The transaction 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.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $293.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $279.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.21. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 11.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 357,611 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $99,977,000 after buying an additional 36,829 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,223,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth about $26,647,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $75,922,000 after buying an additional 186,029 shares during the period. Finally, Sienna Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the third quarter worth about $5,139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. 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. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.