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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 10,805 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,256% compared to the average volume of 797 put options.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $187.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $184.70 and its 200 day moving average is $180.97. VeriSign has a one year low of $167.04 and a one year high of $220.91.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,157 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,391.51. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 1,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $233,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,382,670. The trade was a 3.53 % 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 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VeriSign

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Troy Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $109,040,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 836.8% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 473,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $84,133,000 after acquiring an additional 422,676 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,914,000. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in VeriSign in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,455,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 788,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $139,771,000 after purchasing an additional 242,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.