Thomas Indelicarto Sells 332 Shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock

by · The Markets Daily

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN – Get Free Report) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $79,885.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,551,651.52. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.2%

VRSN stock traded down $2.88 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $235.73. 500,403 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,836. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $236.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.86 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,443,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,199,318,000 after buying an additional 861,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in VeriSign by 8.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,189,285,000 after acquiring an additional 321,737 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,700,000 after acquiring an additional 496,674 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,491,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,247,000 after purchasing an additional 246,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on VeriSign

About VeriSign

(Get Free Report)

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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