XTX Topco Ltd Invests $3.73 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 12,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,726,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,839 shares of company stock worth $12,660,539. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $255.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $260.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.29. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

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. 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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.