Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• D James Bidzos, CEO of VeriSign, sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock on October 15th at an average price of $264.06, resulting in a total value of $528,120.00, which decreased his ownership stake by 0.42%.
• VeriSign's stock has seen a recent decline, trading down 2.2% to $259.79, with an average trading volume of 712,704 shares compared to 843,917.
• The company recently announced a $1.11 billion stock repurchase program, signaling board confidence in the stock's undervaluation.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total value of $528,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 469,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,960,062.34. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 14th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00.
• On Wednesday, September 17th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.34, for a total transaction of $1,436,700.00.
• On Wednesday, September 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.87, for a total transaction of $567,740.00.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.24, for a total transaction of $1,416,200.00.
• On Wednesday, August 20th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.71, for a total transaction of $541,420.00.
• On Tuesday, August 19th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total value of $1,342,150.00.
• On Wednesday, August 13th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.45, for a total value of $532,900.00.
• On Tuesday, August 12th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00.

VeriSign Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $5.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $259.79. The stock had a trading volume of 712,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 843,917. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.97. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $24.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,056,268,000 after buying an additional 68,355 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,932,243 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,135,632,000 after acquiring an additional 73,931 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 32.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,003 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $894,414,000 after acquiring an additional 767,363 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.

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