VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 74,911 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,232 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $21,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 10.8% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,014,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Efficient Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $635,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in VeriSign by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 157,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,500,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Financial Services raised its stake in VeriSign by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total value of $523,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 460,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,423,216.06. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,039 shares of company stock worth $12,990,731. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price target on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of VeriSign from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.0%

VRSN stock opened at $241.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.20 and a beta of 0.76. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.73.

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

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.