D James Bidzos Sells 3,300 Shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 436,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,961,527.31. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, June 2nd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.1%

VRSN stock opened at $279.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $283.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.68. The stock has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 429.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.