VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Plans $0.77 Quarterly Dividend

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.77 per share by the information services provider on Wednesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%.

VeriSign has a payout ratio of 32.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $2.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $286.67. The company had a trading volume of 825,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,838. The company's fifty day moving average price is $281.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.75. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $172.49 and a 12 month high of $291.54. The stock has a market cap of $26.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.37% and a net margin of 50.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total transaction of $143,837.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,843,479.90. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 515,772 shares in the company, valued at $145,112,452.20. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,278,592 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in VeriSign by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,874 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,745,000 after buying an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

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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