VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $136,452.00 in Stock

Key Points

• VeriSign EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares on April 7 at an average price of $274 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, totaling $136,452 and reducing his stake by 1.27% to 38,700 shares (SEC filing).
• Shares traded down about 1.4% to $270.90; VeriSign reported quarterly EPS of $2.23 (miss vs. $2.29) with $425.3M in revenue, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.81 (1.2% yield), and holds a consensus analyst rating of Moderate Buy with a $297 price target.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.00, for a total value of $136,452.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,700 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,800. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $3.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $270.90. 853,411 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 807,311. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company's 50 day moving average is $236.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.27. The firm has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $425.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.04 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 EPS.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This is an increase from VeriSign's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded VeriSign from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in VeriSign by 109.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 35,351 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,589,000 after acquiring an additional 18,492 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in VeriSign by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $408,000. Titan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $1,455,000. Finally, Vancity Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc NASDAQ: VRSN is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign's registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.

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