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

Key Points

• VeriSign CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares at an average price of $284.40, generating $938,520. The transaction, conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reduced his direct holdings by 0.84% to 391,627 shares.
• Bidzos has made a series of identical 3,300-share sales since June, with transaction values ranging from approximately $820,000 to $979,000.
• VeriSign shares traded at $286.94, while the company reported quarterly revenue growth of 6% and EPS of $2.38, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $333.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total transaction of $938,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,627 shares in the company, valued at $111,378,718.80. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, 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 transaction of $960,597.00.
• On Tuesday, August 25th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total transaction 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 shares were sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total value 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 value of $927,960.00.
• On Tuesday, July 21st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.44, for a total value 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 value of $878,097.00.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.94, for a total value of $828,102.00.
• On Tuesday, June 23rd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.53, for a total transaction of $820,149.00.
• On Tuesday, June 16th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $904,926.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $4.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $286.94. The company had a trading volume of 743,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,106. The company has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12 and a beta of 0.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $280.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.21.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is 35.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 429.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the first 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. One equities 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $333.00.

About VeriSign

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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