VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.71, for a total value of $1,383,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 544,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,743,860.12. This represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 11th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $558,560.00.
• On Wednesday, May 21st, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.66, for a total value of $561,320.00.
• On Tuesday, May 20th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total value of $1,402,000.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock opened at $281.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.49 and a fifty-two week high of $288.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $268.89 and a 200-day moving average of $236.36.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 43.01% and a net margin of 50.47%. The business had revenue of $402.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $222,840,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $586,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $176,980,000 after purchasing an additional 695,102 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $141,129,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 477.1% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $200,880,000 after purchasing an additional 654,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.