Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $12.75 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $12,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,669,263,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 75.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $586,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $670,685,000 after acquiring an additional 44,751 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,098,000 after acquiring an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,835,000 after acquiring an additional 60,293 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.6%

VRSN stock opened at $245.76 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.95 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $263.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.30.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly 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. 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 firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. VeriSign’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.90%.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 471,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,200,055.23. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. The trade was a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 40,839 shares of company stock valued at $10,918,189 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.