VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Credit Agricole S A

Credit Agricole S A lifted its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 40,784 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,354,000 after acquiring an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 115.2% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 64,448 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,361,000 after acquiring an additional 34,505 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $259,987,000 after acquiring an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 898 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 44,760 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total value of $132,514.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,724,871.50. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,706 shares of company stock valued at $13,225,964. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of VRSN opened at $269.55 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $279.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.20. The company has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $277.50.

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.