VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $285.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,126,680. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 478,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,020,082.72. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.