VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 17th

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share by the information services provider on Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th.

VeriSign has a dividend payout ratio of 34.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect VeriSign to earn $10.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.9%.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $313.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 699,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,683. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $300.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.48. VeriSign has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $324.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66 and a beta of 0.66.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $443.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $440.58 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. VeriSign’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 394,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,959,300.43. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 49,156 shares of company stock valued at $14,582,030 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,044,157,000 after acquiring an additional 73,583 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 33,723.8% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,770,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $781,311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 38,800 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. operates critical internet infrastructure, best known for managing the domain-name registries for .com and .net. It provides the systems that allow domain names in these extensions to be registered and resolved through the Domain Name System, working with registrars that serve businesses and individuals. The company also provides registry services for other domain extensions and supports the security and stability of the internet’s naming infrastructure. Its services are used globally through a network of registrars and other internet service providers.