VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $136,452.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.00, for a total value of $136,452.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,700 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,800. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $3.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $270.90. 853,411 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 807,311. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $236.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, North Capital Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.