Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 378 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,273 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 378 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,669,263,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $586,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $293,835,000 after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total value of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at $9,933,715.48. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $189,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,126,680. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $287.77 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $277.59 and a 200-day moving average of $269.31. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $175.62 and a one year high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $26.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.75%.

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.