VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Insider Selling

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $184.73 and last traded at $185.27, with a volume of 67060 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $185.43.

Specifically, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,971,450. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.35, for a total transaction of $402,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,736,613.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,877 shares of company stock valued at $3,281,564 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd.

VeriSign Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.34.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.01 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. On average, analysts expect that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 52.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 94.6% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in VeriSign by 158.6% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Company Profile

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.