Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells 3,300 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• VeriSign CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares on June 9 at an average price of $284.29, totaling about $938,157. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• After the transaction, Bidzos held 436,039 shares valued at roughly $124 million, and the sale reduced his position by 0.75%. He also sold 3,300 shares the previous week at a higher average price of $297.47.
• VeriSign shares were down about 3% to $279.57, even as the company recently beat earnings and revenue estimates and continued paying a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.29, for a total transaction of $938,157.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 436,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $123,961,527.31. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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, June 2nd, D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $981,651.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ VRSN traded down $8.52 on Thursday, reaching $279.57. The stock had a trading volume of 700,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,247. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.31.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.The firm had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. VeriSign's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Groupe la Francaise increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.8% in 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 last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 872 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $273.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.67.

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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