VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos Sells 3,300 Shares

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total value of $892,452.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,567,675.16. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Tuesday, July 7th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total transaction of $828,102.00.
• On Tuesday, June 23rd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00.
• On Tuesday, June 16th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $904,926.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00.
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $6.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $281.13. 132,687 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 825,244. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during 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%.VeriSign’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $699,916,000 after purchasing an additional 38,800 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in VeriSign by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

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.