VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells $576,960.00 in Stock

Key Points

• VeriSign CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares for $576,960 at an average price of $288.48, reducing his stake by 0.42% to 478,439 shares.
• The company's stock recently traded at $287.77, with a market cap of $26.88 billion, and a 52-week range between $175.62 and $310.60.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77, with a payout ratio of 36.75%, and initiated a stock repurchase program allowing $1.11 billion in buybacks.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, September 16th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.34, for a total value of $1,436,700.00.
• On Wednesday, September 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.87, for a total value 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 shares were sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total value 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 value 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 value of $1,320,750.00.
• On Wednesday, July 16th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value of $562,700.00.
• On Tuesday, July 15th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.08, for a total value 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 value of $578,580.00.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN stock traded down $3.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $282.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,478,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,643. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $563,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,788 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its position in VeriSign by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,149 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,027,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

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.