VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Price Target Raised to $324.00

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its price objective hoisted by Wedbush from $318.00 to $324.00 in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $280.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.40. The company has a market cap of $25.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37 and a beta of 0.71. VeriSign has a 12-month low of $208.86 and a 12-month high of $312.48.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.20%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that VeriSign will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.02, for a total transaction of $1,355,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,538,548.90. The trade was a 12.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $981,651.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 439,339 shares in the company, valued at $130,690,172.33. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,300 shares of company stock valued at $7,125,942. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 159.6% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,223,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 146,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,495,000 after acquiring an additional 22,020 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,179,000 after acquiring an additional 11,249 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 174,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 64,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,609,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

More VeriSign News

Here are the key news stories impacting VeriSign this week:

• Positive Sentiment: VeriSign reported second-quarter results that topped estimates, with EPS of $2.38 versus $2.36 expected and revenue of $434.6 million, up 6% year over year. The stronger-than-expected quarter suggests steady demand for domain registrations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company lifted its FY2026 outlook, calling for revenue of $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion, reinforcing confidence that growth can continue after the latest quarter. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: VeriSign announced that .web has been delegated into the DNS root zone, with the company as registry operator. That adds a potential long-term growth opportunity for domain registrations and registry revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised its price target on VeriSign to $324 from $318 and kept an outperform rating, implying additional upside relative to the current trading level. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan also raised its price target to $316 from $308, even while maintaining a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations for the stock’s value. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: VeriSign declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which supports the stock’s income profile but is not a major growth driver by itself.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.