VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $1,327,850.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 15th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total value of $528,120.00.
• On Wednesday, September 17th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.34, for a total value of $1,436,700.00.
• On Wednesday, September 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.87, for a total value of $567,740.00.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.24, for a total transaction of $1,416,200.00.
• On Wednesday, August 20th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.71, for a total transaction of $541,420.00.
• On Tuesday, August 19th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total transaction of $1,342,150.00.
• On Wednesday, August 13th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.45, for a total transaction of $532,900.00.
• On Tuesday, August 12th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $264.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $274.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.17.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $277.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth $641,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 118.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $55,924,000 after purchasing an additional 119,368 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $508,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $351,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 35.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.