VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 65,338 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,323 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $18,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $586,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002,510 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 477.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $200,880,000 after acquiring an additional 654,170 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 161.4% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in VeriSign by 71.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $124,066,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.52, for a total value of $81,669.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,855 shares in the company, valued at $8,278,224.60. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total transaction of $492,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,499,684.30. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,660,539 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $255.68 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.85 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.29.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

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.