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

Key Points

• VeriSign CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares at an average price of $292.33, generating $964,689. The transaction reduced his holdings by 0.86% to 378,427 shares and was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• The sale continues a pattern of weekly insider selling, with Bidzos selling 3,300 shares in each of several transactions since July.
• VeriSign recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $333 versus the stock’s reported price of $294.22.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.33, for a total transaction of $964,689.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 378,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,625,564.91. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 29th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.78, for a total transaction of $919,974.00.
• On Tuesday, September 22nd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.74, for a total value of $1,005,642.00.
• On Tuesday, September 15th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.58, for a total value of $978,714.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.40, for a total value of $938,520.00.
• On Tuesday, September 1st, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.09, for a total value of $960,597.00.
• On Tuesday, August 25th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.16, for a total value 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 value of $916,905.00.
• On Tuesday, August 4th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was 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.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $294.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,731,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,143. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $290.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.87. The company has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.69.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush upped their target price on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Zacks Research downgraded VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. 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 note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Monday, September 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $333.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,116,154,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,044,157,000 after buying an additional 73,583 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,818,151 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $699,916,000 after buying an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 48.5% in the first quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 915,012 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,252,000 after buying an additional 298,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN provides critical internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registries for the .com and .net top-level domains and supports the security, stability and availability of these domains worldwide. VeriSign also operates the .name and .cc registries and provides backend registry services for additional top-level domains.

In addition to registry operations, VeriSign offers domain name system (DNS) services designed to help organizations maintain reliable online access.

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