1,594 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in VeriSign by 77.0% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 57,048 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,483,000 after buying an additional 24,825 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 617 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 26.3% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.52, for a total transaction of $81,669.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,278,224.60. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.27, for a total value of $502,540.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 451,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,433,077.53. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 48,539 shares of company stock valued at $12,990,759 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $252.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $265.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.01. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.67.

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.