Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.07, for a total value of $484,140.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 432,099 shares in the company, valued at $104,598,204.93. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, December 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00.
• On Wednesday, November 19th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total value of $492,100.00.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $1,250,250.00.
• On Wednesday, November 12th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $502,540.00.
• On Tuesday, November 11th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00.
• On Wednesday, October 22nd, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total transaction of $523,080.00.
• On Tuesday, October 21st, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.43, for a total transaction of $1,337,150.00.
• On Wednesday, October 15th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total transaction of $528,120.00.
• On Tuesday, October 14th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00.
• On Wednesday, September 17th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $244.07. The stock had a trading volume of 646,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,717. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $191.12 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $252.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.81. The firm has a market cap of $22.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 56.5% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.67.

About VeriSign

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.