VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells 500 Shares of Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $140,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,954,280. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $7.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $281.88. The stock had a trading volume of 151,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,468. The company has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tema ETFs LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 76.3% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,775 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. LifeGoal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $232,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in VeriSign by 3.7% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,312 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,864,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 7.1% in the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 33,065 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,318,000 after buying an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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