Key Points
- VeriSign CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares on December 9 at an average price of $244.59 for $1,222,950, leaving him with 434,099 shares (a 1.14% reduction) valued at $106,176,274.41.
- This sale is part of a string of insider dispositions since September 17 totaling about 37,000 shares across multiple trades — roughly $9.5 million in proceeds.
- VeriSign has a market cap of about $22.6 billion, recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, and pays a $0.77 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~1.3%) with a trailing PE around 28.5.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.07, for a total transaction of $484,140.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 432,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at $104,598,204.93. This trade represents a 0.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.
D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, December 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00.
- On Wednesday, November 19th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total value of $492,100.00.
- On Tuesday, November 18th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $1,250,250.00.
- On Wednesday, November 12th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $502,540.00.
- On Tuesday, November 11th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00.
- On Wednesday, October 22nd, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total transaction of $523,080.00.
- On Tuesday, October 21st, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.43, for a total transaction of $1,337,150.00.
- On Wednesday, October 15th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total value of $528,120.00.
- On Tuesday, October 14th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00.
- On Wednesday, September 17th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00.
VeriSign Price Performance
Shares of VRSN stock opened at $244.07 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $252.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.81. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $191.12 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.78.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The firm had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year.
VeriSign Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.90%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $641,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in VeriSign by 118.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,285 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $55,924,000 after purchasing an additional 119,368 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at about $508,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at about $351,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 13,362 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,844,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $281.67.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VRSN
About VeriSign
(
Get Free Report)
VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.
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