VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock: Insider Danny Mcpherson Sells 3,256 Shares

Key Points

• VeriSign EVP Danny McPherson sold 3,256 shares at an average price of $303.89, generating approximately $989,466 and reducing his direct holdings by 9.63% to 30,548 shares.
• VeriSign shares fell 1.5% to $304.04, while quarterly results showed EPS of $2.35 below estimates but revenue of $443 million above forecasts and up 5.7% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $352, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, yielding about 1.1% annually.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 3,256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.89, for a total value of $989,465.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,283,231.72. The trade was a 9.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $4.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $304.04. The company had a trading volume of 745,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,521. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.86 and a twelve month high of $312.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.69 and a beta of 0.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The information services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $443.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $440.58 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.06% and a negative return on equity of 38.40%. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 34.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,261,494,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth approximately $2,116,154,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $172,641,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $145,362,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in 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 have issued reports on VRSN shares. Zacks Research cut shares of VeriSign from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $380.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $352.00.

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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