VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO D James Bidzos Sells 5,000 Shares

Key Points

• VeriSign CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock on September 16th for a total of $1,436,700, which marked a 1.03% decrease in his ownership.
• The company's stock traded at $287.77, experiencing a slight increase of 0.1%, with a market capitalization of $26.88 billion.
• VeriSign announced a share buyback program of up to $1.11 billion, indicating the board believes the shares are undervalued.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.34, for a total value of $1,436,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 480,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $138,049,342.26. This represents a 1.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, September 17th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00.
• On Wednesday, September 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.87, for a total transaction of $567,740.00.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.24, for a total transaction of $1,416,200.00.
• On Wednesday, August 20th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.71, for a total transaction of $541,420.00.
• On Tuesday, August 19th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total transaction of $1,342,150.00.
• On Wednesday, August 13th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.45, for a total transaction of $532,900.00.
• On Tuesday, August 12th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00.
• On Wednesday, July 16th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total transaction of $562,700.00.
• On Tuesday, July 15th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.08, for a total transaction of $1,410,400.00.
• On Wednesday, July 9th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $578,580.00.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $3.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $282.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,478,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,643. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $277.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.35.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canal Capital Management LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $225,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,967 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $103,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,332 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Finally, MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VRSN. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.50.

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.