Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 68,355 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,355 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of VeriSign worth $3,056,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $586,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 477.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $200,880,000 after purchasing an additional 654,170 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 161.4% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 860,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $248,388,000 after buying an additional 531,041 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $124,066,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $248.42 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.13. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.67 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total value of $492,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,499,684.30. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,660,539. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company 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.