VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $141,770.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.54, for a total transaction of $141,770.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,363,670.54. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $279.89 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $283.31 and a 200-day moving average of $255.68. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $25.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.67.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 159.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,647,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 152.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,139,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,904,000 after buying an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.