Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,039,645 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,039,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $300,249,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.11% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in VeriSign by 56.5% during 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 acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total transaction of $592,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total transaction of $1,327,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at $125,200,055.23. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,660,539. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.67.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $252.08 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.77. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $185.44 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.76.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 EPS 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors 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 yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

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.