Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• VeriSign saw unusually heavy call-option activity: Investors purchased 3,556 call options, 302% above the typical volume of 884 contracts.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $333; Wedbush recently raised its target to $341.
• Shares traded near $298, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $2.38, slightly exceeding estimates, and revenue of $434.6 million, up 6% year over year.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 3,556 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 302% compared to the typical volume of 884 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on VRSN shares. 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. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $324.00 to $341.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $333.00.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $298.15. 158,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 806,420. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.39. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $208.86 and a 1-year high of $312.48. The firm has a market cap of $26.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.19 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. Analysts anticipate that VeriSign will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.16, for a total value of $144,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,895 shares in the company, valued at $9,511,918.20. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Calys sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.56, for a total transaction of $140,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,752,855.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $10,096,482. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in VeriSign by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN is a global provider of internet infrastructure and domain name registry services. The company operates the authoritative registry for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the systems that support the registration and resolution of millions of internet addresses worldwide.

VeriSign's services include domain registry operations, Domain Name System (DNS) services, DNS security and stability solutions, and related internet infrastructure. Its systems help domain name registrars, businesses, governments and internet users access websites and online services reliably.

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