VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos Sells 3,300 Shares of Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSNGet Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 409,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,474,349.06. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, July 28th, D James 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 James 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 James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 30th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total transaction of $828,102.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 23rd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 16th, D James 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.
  • On Tuesday, June 9th, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total value of $938,157.00.
  • On Tuesday, June 2nd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $293.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $274.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSNGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $152,225,000 after acquiring an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 1,035.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $117,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.75.

View Our Latest Stock Report on VRSN

About VeriSign

(Get Free Report)

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.

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