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

Key Points

• VeriSign CEO D. James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares at an average price of $303.67, generating approximately $1.00 million. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, leaving him with 368,527 shares.
• Bidzos has made a series of weekly 3,300-share sales since August, indicating a recurring insider-selling pattern rather than a one-time transaction.
• VeriSign shares recently rose 1.0% to $307.01, while analysts maintained a generally positive outlook with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $352.00. The company’s latest quarterly revenue exceeded estimates, although EPS fell short of expectations.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.67, for a total transaction of $1,002,111.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 368,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at $111,910,594.09. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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, October 20th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.30, for a total value of $1,010,790.00.
• On Tuesday, October 13th, D. Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.85, for a total value of $999,405.00.
• 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 shares were 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 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 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 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 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 shares were sold at an average price of $277.85, for a total value of $916,905.00.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $2.97 on Wednesday, hitting $307.01. 687,336 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 825,849. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.50. The company has a market cap of $27.54 billion, a PE ratio of 33.01 and a beta of 0.69. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 49.06%. The firm had revenue of $443.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $440.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.27 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 34.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $351.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $308.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $352.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 7.8% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 290,112 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $81,814,000 after acquiring an additional 21,108 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.8% during the third quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,349 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 21.2% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.6% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interchange Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the third quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.