Key Points
- VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 332 shares on March 10 at an average price of $240.62 for about $79,886, leaving him with 39,696 shares (a 0.83% reduction in ownership).
- VeriSign reported Q4 EPS of $2.23 (missing consensus by $0.06) on $425.3M revenue (up 7.6% year-over-year) and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 ($3.24 annualized, ~1.4% yield).
- Shares traded around $238.97 (+1.4%), the company has a market cap of about $21.9B, and Wall Street's consensus rating is a "Hold" with a $292 average price target (2 Buy, 3 Hold).
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $79,885.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,551,651.52. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
VeriSign Trading Up 1.4%
Shares of VRSN stock traded up $3.24 on Thursday, reaching $238.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 186,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,288. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $236.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.58. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $21.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19 and a beta of 0.76.
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 the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $425.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share.
VeriSign Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. This is a positive change from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.78%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in VeriSign by 429.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, North Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $292.00.
View Our Latest Research Report on VeriSign
VeriSign Company Profile
(
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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