VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate VeriSign a consensus “Buy”: Four analysts recommend buying, one rates it a strong buy, and one recommends holding. The average 12-month price target is $333, above the reported share price of $293.35.
• VeriSign reported quarterly revenue of $434.6 million, up 6% year over year, and EPS of $2.38, narrowly exceeding expectations. Analysts expect full-year EPS of $9.57.
• Insiders sold $11.0 million worth of shares over the past 90 days, including sales by the CEO and an executive vice president under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans; institutional investors own 92.9% of the stock.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $333.00.

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 394,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,959,300.43. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.78, for a total transaction of $145,390.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,710,598.10. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,800 shares of company stock valued at $10,998,235. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $293.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50 day moving average is $278.31 and its 200-day moving average is $268.72. VeriSign has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company 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 firm earned $2.21 EPS. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

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.

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