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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.99, for a total transaction of $1,029,567.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 365,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,947,171.73. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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, October 27th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.67, for a total transaction of $1,002,111.00.
• On Tuesday, October 20th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.30, for a total transaction of $1,010,790.00.
• On Tuesday, October 13th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.85, for a total transaction of $999,405.00.
• On Tuesday, October 6th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.33, for a total transaction of $964,689.00.
• On Tuesday, September 29th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.78, for a total transaction of $919,974.00.
• On Tuesday, September 22nd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total transaction of $1,005,642.00.
• On Tuesday, September 15th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.58, for a total transaction of $978,714.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total transaction of $938,520.00.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total transaction of $960,597.00.
• On Tuesday, August 25th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total transaction of $960,828.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $312.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98 and a beta of 0.66. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $324.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $443.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 34.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.00.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) provides internet infrastructure services that support the global domain name system. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains and provides registry services for certain other domains, helping maintain the databases that connect domain names with internet addresses.

The company’s services include domain name registry operations, domain name registration-related support for accredited registrars, and infrastructure designed to improve the availability, stability, and security of internet naming services.