VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto Sells 500 Shares

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total transaction of $144,580.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,895 shares in the company, valued at $9,511,918.20. This trade represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $286.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush raised their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 104.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.

VeriSign’s services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.