Key Points
- EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 166 shares on Feb. 10 at an average price of $219.24 for $36,393.84, trimming his position by 0.39% to 42,023 shares valued at about $9.21M.
- Q4 results: VeriSign posted $2.23 EPS (missing the $2.29 estimate) on $425.3M revenue (up 7.6% YoY), with a 49.8% net margin but a negative return on equity of 40.4%.
- Dividend raised to $0.81 quarterly ($3.24 annualized) with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 19, implying a 1.5% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 34.96%.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 166 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.24, for a total transaction of $36,393.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,213,122.52. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
VeriSign Price Performance
NASDAQ VRSN opened at $215.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.75. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The business's fifty day moving average price is $244.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.93.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
VeriSign Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.96%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,199,318,000 after purchasing an additional 861,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after buying an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,523,495 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $985,063,000 after acquiring an additional 426,492 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $312,900,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $292.00.
Get Our Latest Research 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.
Further Reading
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