VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto Sells 500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares at an average price of $293.14, generating $146,570. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan and reduced his direct ownership by 1.54%.
• VeriSign shares rose 2.0% to $303.74, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $434.6 million and EPS of $2.38, narrowly exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue increased 6.0% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $333, while institutional investors own 92.9% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $146,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,349,700.30. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $5.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $303.74. The company had a trading volume of 503,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,242. 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 $27.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94 and a beta of 0.69. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $290.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.66.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.20% and a net margin of 49.76%.The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter worth approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Zacks Research cut VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to 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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