Korea Investment CORP Acquires 17,862 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 27.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,862 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $23,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday. 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 target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 owned 440,966 shares in the company, valued at $108,499,684.30. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 334 shares of the firm’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 $8,278,224.60. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,839 shares of company stock worth $12,660,539. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.2%

VRSN stock opened at $252.08 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $185.44 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.76.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 35.90%.

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.