VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells $141,422.28 in Stock

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Thomas Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total value of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

VRSN stock opened at $285.52 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $277.61 and its 200 day moving average is $268.25.

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

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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 276,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,133,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,722 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,414 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Company 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.