VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Sells 2,500 Shares

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) EVP Danny Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.0%

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $4.76 on Monday, reaching $244.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,170,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,307. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.90 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $270.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.88.

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

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $641,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in VeriSign by 118.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $55,924,000 after acquiring an additional 119,368 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth $508,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $351,000. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at about $329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.