Generali Investments Management Co LLC Sells 1,542 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Generali Investments Management Co LLC trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,542 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $205,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $245,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 77.0% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 57,048 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,483,000 after purchasing an additional 24,825 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 12.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 617 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 26.3% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $252.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $265.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.01. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John Calys sold 1,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.71, for a total transaction of $242,952.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,189.14. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,539 shares of company stock valued at $12,990,759. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign 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.