Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $63,957.50 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.83, for a total transaction of $63,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 36,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,286,884.83. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $256.43 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.86 and a 1 year high of $312.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $279.70 and its 200 day moving average is $256.58.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $428.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.50 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 39.98% and a net margin of 49.95%.VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in VeriSign in the third quarter worth $26,647,000. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 14.2% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 85,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,904,000 after acquiring an additional 10,637 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter worth $5,139,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 152.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 308,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,922,000 after acquiring an additional 186,029 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.67.

About VeriSign

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.