Insider Selling: VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) CEO Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

by · The Markets Daily

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.59, for a total value of $1,222,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 434,099 shares in the company, valued at $106,176,274.41. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

  • On Wednesday, December 10th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.07, for a total value of $484,140.00.
  • On Wednesday, November 19th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total transaction of $492,100.00.
  • On Tuesday, November 18th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $1,250,250.00.
  • On Wednesday, November 12th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total transaction of $502,540.00.
  • On Tuesday, November 11th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.14, for a total transaction of $1,240,700.00.
  • On Wednesday, October 22nd, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total transaction of $523,080.00.
  • On Tuesday, October 21st, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.43, for a total transaction of $1,337,150.00.
  • On Wednesday, October 15th, D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total transaction of $528,120.00.
  • On Tuesday, October 14th, D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00.
  • 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 value of $576,960.00.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $1.75 on Thursday, reaching $244.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 646,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,717. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $191.12 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.81. The company has a market capitalization of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.90%.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

Read Our Latest Research Report on VRSN

About VeriSign

(Get Free Report)

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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