VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,478 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.09% of VeriSign worth $259,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,853,000 after purchasing an additional 229,311 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 704,279 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $145,758,000 after purchasing an additional 81,580 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total transaction of $132,514.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,724,871.50. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.45, for a total value of $532,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,029,399.40. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,006 shares of company stock worth $11,153,394. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $271.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $279.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.46.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

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.