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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total value of $892,452.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 416,239 shares in the company, valued at $112,567,675.16. This trade represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value 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 value 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 value of $820,149.00.
• On Tuesday, June 16th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $281.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.86.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued 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 net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Wedbush boosted their price target 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 reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in 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 holdings in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,247,000 after buying an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.