Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $960,828.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value of $960,828.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 398,089 shares in the company, valued at $115,907,593.24. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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, August 18th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total value of $916,905.00.
• On Tuesday, August 4th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total transaction of $927,960.00.
• On Tuesday, July 21st, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total transaction of $892,452.00.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $291.93 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $275.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.37. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The company has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 30,008.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 34,563,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,694,816,000 after purchasing an additional 34,448,791 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after buying an additional 321,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% in 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 buying an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.