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 $306.30, generating approximately $1.01 million. The transaction, conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reduced his holdings by 0.88% to 371,827 shares.
• Bidzos has made a series of similar 3,300-share sales since August, indicating a recurring pattern of insider selling rather than a one-time transaction.
• VeriSign shares recently traded near their 12-month high at $307.25. The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while analysts maintained a broadly positive outlook with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $335.50.

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 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.30, for a total transaction of $1,010,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 371,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,890,610.10. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 13th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.85, for a total transaction of $999,405.00.
• On Tuesday, October 6th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.33, for a total transaction 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 transaction 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 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 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 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.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $307.25. 734,560 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 819,436. The stock has a market cap of $27.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $291.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $282.81.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 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 negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $2,116,154,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $172,641,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter worth approximately $145,362,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $126,420,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research lowered VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on VeriSign from $341.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $335.50.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN provides internet infrastructure services that support the global domain name system. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains and provides registry services for certain other domains, helping maintain the databases that connect domain names with internet addresses.

The company's services include domain name registry operations, domain name registration-related support for accredited registrars, and infrastructure designed to improve the availability, stability, and security of internet naming services.

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