Weiss Ratings Reaffirms “Buy (B-)” Rating for VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)‘s stock had its “buy (b-)” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $261.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $275.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.55. VeriSign has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.87, for a total value of $135,705.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,396,480.30. This trade represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,205 shares of company stock valued at $10,577,083. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 239.0% in the third quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 139 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Amiral Gestion bought a new stake in VeriSign during the third quarter worth $2,483,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 11.6% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 8.2% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613 shares during the period. 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.