Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $11.97 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 103.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,127 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in VeriSign were worth $11,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $565,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.7% in the second quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 44.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 111,719 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,264,000 after buying an additional 34,155 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 16.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,135,000 after buying an additional 5,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $281.67.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $240.37 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $272.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.95. The stock has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,392,123.80. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,451,906 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.