Investors Purchase Large Volume of VeriSign Call Options (NASDAQ:VRSN)

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 3,556 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 302% compared to the typical volume of 884 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush increased their price target on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $333.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $298.15. 158,225 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 806,420. VeriSign has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $283.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that VeriSign will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total transaction of $144,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,511,918.20. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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. Also, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,378,718.80. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,096,482. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 40.5% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.