VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto Sells 500 Shares

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total transaction of $144,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,511,918.20. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $4.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $286.94. 743,914 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 814,106. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $280.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.21.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $333.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in VeriSign by 2.8% during the 1st 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 period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 4.3% during the second quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 6.1% in 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 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.