Key Points
- VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares for $134,489.88 on April 14 at an average price of $270.06 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 1.29% to 38,202 shares (valued at ~$10.32M).
- VeriSign raised its quarterly dividend from $0.77 to $0.81 (annualized $3.24), implying a yield of ~1.2% and a payout ratio of about 36.8%.
- Recent quarter showed mixed results: EPS of $2.23 missed estimates by $0.06 while revenue of $425.3M slightly beat consensus and was up 7.6% year‑over‑year, with a net margin near 49.8%.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total transaction of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,316,832.12. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
VeriSign Trading Up 2.6%
Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $275.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $239.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.89.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share.
VeriSign Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.78%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $297.00.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on VeriSign
Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 104.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.
Read More
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
