Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $134,489.88 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1%

VRSN stock opened at $274.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.00.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Capital Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 239.0% during the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.