Key Points
- VeriSign CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares at an average price of $304.74, worth approximately $1.01 million, under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. He continues to own 385,027 shares valued at roughly $117.3 million.
- Bidzos has made a series of similar 3,300-share sales since late June, with reported sale prices ranging from $250.94 to $304.74.
- VeriSign reported quarterly earnings of $2.38 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 6% year over year to $434.6 million. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $333, versus a recent share price near $293.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total value of $1,005,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 385,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,333,127.98. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, September 15th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.58, for a total transaction of $978,714.00.
- On Tuesday, September 8th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total transaction of $938,520.00.
- On Tuesday, September 1st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total transaction of $960,597.00.
- On Tuesday, August 25th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total transaction of $960,828.00.
- On Tuesday, August 18th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total transaction of $916,905.00.
- On Tuesday, August 4th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00.
- On Tuesday, July 28th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total transaction of $927,960.00.
- On Tuesday, July 21st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total transaction of $892,452.00.
- On Tuesday, July 7th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total value of $878,097.00.
- On Tuesday, June 30th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total value of $828,102.00.
VeriSign Stock Down 2.1%
NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $293.28 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The stock's fifty day moving average is $287.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 0.70.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The company's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.
VeriSign Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 35.14%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $333.00.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on VeriSign
About VeriSign
(
Get Free Report)
VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.
VeriSign's services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.
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