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 $302.85, generating approximately $999,405. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, leaving him with 375,127 shares.
• The sale continues a pattern of weekly 3,300-share disposals dating back to July, with reported sale prices ranging from $277.85 to $304.74.
• VeriSign reported quarterly revenue of $434.6 million and EPS of $2.38, slightly exceeding analyst estimates; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $333.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.85, for a total value of $999,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 375,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,607,211.95. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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, October 6th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.33, for a total value of $964,689.00.
• On Tuesday, September 29th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.78, for a total value of $919,974.00.
• On Tuesday, September 22nd, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $296.54, for a total transaction of $978,582.00.
• On Tuesday, July 28th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.20, for a total transaction of $927,960.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $301.41. The company had a trading volume of 709,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,876. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $290.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.89. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The company has a market capitalization of $27.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The company had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 12,327 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,476,000 after buying an additional 7,130 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 25.1% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,765 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in VeriSign by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,150,727 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,044,157,000 after purchasing an additional 73,583 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 28.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,612 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.2% in the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 4,062 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $333.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

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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