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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.99, for a total value of $1,029,567.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 365,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,947,171.73. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $1,002,111.00.
• On Tuesday, October 20th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 value of $960,597.00.
• On Tuesday, August 25th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value of $960,828.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $318.03 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $297.46 and its 200 day moving average is $272.36. The company has a market cap of $28.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 0.66. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $324.20.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 2,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 17,807 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,022,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.