VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells 3,300 Shares

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 409,639 shares in the company, valued at $121,474,349.06. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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, July 28th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total value of $927,960.00.
• On Tuesday, July 21st, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total value of $892,452.00.
• On Tuesday, July 7th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total value of $828,102.00.
• On Tuesday, June 23rd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00.
• 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 transaction 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 value of $938,157.00.
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.9%

VRSN traded down $5.79 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $293.41. 1,048,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 832,695. The firm has a market cap of $26.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $274.10 and its 200 day moving average is $261.45.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in 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 worth $117,651,000 after buying an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

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.