VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $938,520.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSNGet Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total value of $938,520.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 391,627 shares in the company, valued at $111,378,718.80. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, September 1st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were 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 stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total transaction of $960,828.00.
  • On Tuesday, August 18th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total transaction of $916,905.00.
  • On Tuesday, August 4th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00.
  • On Tuesday, July 28th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total transaction of $927,960.00.
  • On Tuesday, July 21st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total transaction of $892,452.00.
  • On Tuesday, July 7th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 30th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total value of $828,102.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 23rd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total value of $820,149.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 16th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $904,926.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $292.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $282.43 and its 200-day moving average is $271.37.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSNGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 208.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $2,116,154,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $944,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 454,292 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $110,370,000 after buying an additional 130,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VRSN shares. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush boosted their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $333.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on VRSN

VeriSign Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.

VeriSign’s services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.

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Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)

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