Key Points
- Executive insider sale: EVP Danny McPherson sold 3,256 VeriSign shares for approximately $989,466, reducing his holdings by 9.63% to 30,548 shares.
- Quarterly results and dividend: VeriSign reported earnings of $2.35 per share, below the $2.46 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 5.7% year over year to $443 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, equivalent to a 1.1% yield.
- Wall Street outlook remains positive: Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $352, despite one recent downgrade to “Hold.” Institutional investors own approximately 92.9% of the company.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 3,256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.89, for a total value of $989,465.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,283,231.72. This trade represents a 9.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
VeriSign Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $304.04 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $294.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.50. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.
VeriSign Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th.
Institutional Trading of VeriSign
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,044,157,000 after buying an additional 73,583 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $699,916,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 48.5% during the first quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,252,000 after buying an additional 298,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $352.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VeriSign
VeriSign Company Profile
(
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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