VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto Sells 500 Shares of Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.78, for a total transaction of $145,390.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,710,598.10. The trade was a 1.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $289.96 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $277.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.19. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $26.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $333.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.