D James Bidzos Sells 5,000 Shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.20, for a total transaction of $1,241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 416,099 shares in the company, valued at $103,275,771.80. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, January 14th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.28, for a total value of $496,560.00.
• On Wednesday, December 17th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.25, for a total transaction of $488,500.00.
• On Tuesday, December 16th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.79, for a total value of $1,208,950.00.
• On Wednesday, December 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.07, for a total value of $484,140.00.
• On Tuesday, December 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00.
• On Wednesday, November 19th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total transaction of $492,100.00.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $1,250,250.00.
• On Wednesday, November 12th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total value of $502,540.00.
• On Tuesday, November 11th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00.
• On Wednesday, October 22nd, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total value of $523,080.00.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.0%

VRSN traded down $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $249.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 540,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 568,902. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.37 and a twelve month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $894,414,000 after buying an additional 767,363 shares during the period. Amiral Gestion acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,483,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 68,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,208,000 after buying an additional 13,837 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 21.4% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 13,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,844,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 103.6% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 64,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,754,000 after acquiring an additional 33,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

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.