Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 10,805 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,256% compared to the typical daily volume of 797 put options.

VeriSign Trading Down 2.3 %

VeriSign stock opened at $187.99 on Wednesday. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $167.04 and a 1-year high of $220.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.97. The company has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86 and a beta of 0.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 55.74%. The business had revenue of $390.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.43, for a total value of $402,563.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,391.51. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 2,456 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $466,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,990. This represents a 6.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,524 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 99.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,199 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,585,000 after acquiring an additional 12,042 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 773 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in VeriSign by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.9% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 14,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,664,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 55.7% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 327 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.