Key Points
- VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicato sold 500 shares for approximately $146,100 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his holdings by 1.41% to 35,051 shares.
- VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.38, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 6% year over year to $434.6 million.
- Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $328.75, above the stock’s reported opening price of $299.20.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.20, for a total value of $146,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,241,902.20. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
VeriSign Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $299.20 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The business's fifty day moving average price is $274.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45 and a beta of 0.70.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
VeriSign Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 8.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,189,285,000 after purchasing an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $976,700,000 after buying an additional 496,674 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $699,916,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in VeriSign by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $362,247,000 after buying an additional 246,887 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at about $312,900,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $328.75.
Get Our Latest Analysis 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.
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