VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 383,179 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,029 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.41% of VeriSign worth $110,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,582,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,056,268,000 after buying an additional 68,355 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,326,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $670,685,000 after purchasing an additional 44,751 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,835,000 after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.2%

VRSN opened at $252.67 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $259.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.16. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $185.33 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.90%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.05, for a total transaction of $492,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,499,684.30. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 334 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,855 shares in the company, valued at $8,278,224.60. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,660,539 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.