Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $592,175.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $244.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.62 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.62.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

VeriSign declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 56.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.67.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.