Key Points
- EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares on April 28 at an average price of $271.02 for proceeds of $1,355,100, leaving him with 35,195 shares — a 12.44% reduction in his stake.
- VeriSign recently beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.34 vs. $2.30; revenue $428.9M vs. $424.5M), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 ($3.24 annual, 1.2% yield), and trades with a market cap around $24.8B and a consensus "Moderate Buy" price target of $317.67.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total value of $1,355,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,538,548.90. This represents a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
VeriSign Price Performance
NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $272.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $249.79 and a 200 day moving average of $246.90. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $310.60.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.
VeriSign Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $317.67.
View Our Latest Report on VeriSign
Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $362,247,000 after acquiring an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $312,900,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.
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