VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $1,418,350.00 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.67, for a total transaction of $1,418,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 535,772 shares in the company, valued at $151,982,443.24. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

D James Bidzos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 18th, D James Bidzos sold 4,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.87, for a total transaction of $1,127,480.00.
• On Wednesday, June 11th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $558,560.00.
• On Tuesday, June 10th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.71, for a total transaction of $1,383,550.00.
• On Wednesday, May 21st, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.66, for a total transaction of $561,320.00.
• On Tuesday, May 20th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.40, for a total transaction of $1,402,000.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $280.73. 1,026,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,494. The firm has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32 and a beta of 0.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $288.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.52.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.44 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.23% and a negative return on equity of 41.37%. VeriSign's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 2.5% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% during the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% in the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,671,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.

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