Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $820,149.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total value of $820,149.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 429,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,728,474.67. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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, 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 value of $904,926.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $255.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $281.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.23.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in VeriSign by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.