Neuberger Berman Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 266.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,044 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,117 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $300,249,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 654,170 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 531,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $252.08 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $185.44 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $258.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.83.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. VeriSign’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

Insider Activity

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

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.