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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total value of $1,005,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 385,027 shares in the company, valued at $117,333,127.98. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, 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 value of $978,714.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total value 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 value 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 value 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 stock was 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 transaction 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 transaction of $828,102.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded down $6.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $293.28. 615,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,753. The stock has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $208.86 and a one year high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings 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 worth $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 40.5% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $333.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.