Meitav Investment House Ltd. Has $3.99 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Meitav Investment House Ltd. decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,815 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 419 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSN. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in VeriSign by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,318 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 8.4% during the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth $233,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 6.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $270.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $273.49. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total transaction of $1,342,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 498,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,759,742.72. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,704 shares of company stock valued at $11,019,957 in the last 90 days. 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.