Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $63,957.50 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total transaction of $63,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,286,884.83. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $256.43. 630,678 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 831,234. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.59. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.86 and a 12 month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.95% and a negative return on equity of 39.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 122.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

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.