Penserra Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Penserra Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 88.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 448 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $586,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 477.1% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $200,880,000 after purchasing an additional 654,170 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 161.4% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 860,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $248,388,000 after purchasing an additional 531,041 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $124,066,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $251.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.62 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.20.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.52, for a total transaction of $81,669.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,278,224.60. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total value of $502,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 451,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,433,077.53. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 48,539 shares of company stock valued at $12,990,759 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

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.