Key Points
- VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares on April 7 at an average price of $274 for $136,452, a trade executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan that reduced his stake by 1.27% to 38,700 shares (≈$10.6M).
- VeriSign posted quarterly EPS of $2.23 (missing estimates by $0.06) with revenue up 7.6% to $425.3M, recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 ($3.24 annual, 1.2% yield), and carries a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $297 target.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.00, for a total value of $136,452.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,800. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
VeriSign Stock Performance
VeriSign stock opened at $270.90 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $237.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.43. The stock has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.84% and a negative return on equity of 40.40%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share.
VeriSign Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. 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 payout ratio is presently 36.78%.
Institutional Trading of VeriSign
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Capital Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $297.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VRSN
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.
Further Reading
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