VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $154,690.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.38, for a total transaction of $154,690.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,712,985.10. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $312.06 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $324.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.55 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.67.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted 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 company had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.58 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 34.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut VeriSign from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price target on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $352.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $2,116,154,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $172,641,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $145,362,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $126,420,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.