Key Points
- CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 VeriSign shares at an average price of $306.30, generating approximately $1.01 million. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his ownership by 0.88%.
- Bidzos has made a series of similar sales since August, consistently selling 3,300 shares per transaction. He retains 371,827 shares valued at roughly $113.9 million.
- VeriSign reported quarterly revenue of $434.6 million and EPS of $2.38, both slightly above analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $335.50, while institutional investors own 92.9% of the stock.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.30, for a total value of $1,010,790.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 371,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,890,610.10. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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.
D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, October 13th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.85, for a total transaction of $999,405.00.
- On Tuesday, October 6th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.33, for a total transaction of $964,689.00.
- On Tuesday, September 29th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.78, for a total transaction of $919,974.00.
- On Tuesday, September 22nd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total transaction of $1,005,642.00.
- 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 shares were 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 stock was 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 stock was 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.
VeriSign Stock Performance
Shares of VRSN stock opened at $307.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $312.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.15.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $341.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $335.50.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VeriSign
Institutional Trading of VeriSign
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Groupe la Francaise boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.8% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 1,413 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Strive Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 295 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.
About VeriSign
(
Get Free Report)
VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) provides internet infrastructure services that support the global domain name system. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains and provides registry services for certain other domains, helping maintain the databases that connect domain names with internet addresses.
The company's services include domain name registry operations, domain name registration-related support for accredited registrars, and infrastructure designed to improve the availability, stability, and security of internet naming services.
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