VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Research Coverage Started at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $270.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock.

VRSN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of VRSN opened at $235.60 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $271.20 and its 200-day moving average is $274.58. VeriSign has a 12 month low of $175.62 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $21.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.90%.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 508,772 shares in the company, valued at $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,451,906. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On VeriSign

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth about $641,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in VeriSign by 118.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $55,924,000 after acquiring an additional 119,368 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the first quarter worth about $508,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $351,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 35.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

About VeriSign

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.