VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 7.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $267.75 and last traded at $272.61. Approximately 201,131 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 747,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.59.
The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.65%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. StockNews.com upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on VeriSign from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on VRSN
VeriSign Trading Up 1.2 %
The firm's 50-day moving average price is $243.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.26. The company has a market capitalization of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52 and a beta of 0.87.
VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.10. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.47% and a negative return on equity of 43.01%. The company had revenue of $402.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Insider Activity
In other news, SVP John Calys sold 447 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.75, for a total value of $103,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,735 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,586.25. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of VeriSign
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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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