Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $10.35 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in VeriSign by 56.5% in Q1, holding 40,784 shares valued at over $10 million.
• Insider selling included CEO D. James Bidzos and EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto, reducing their ownership but retaining significant shares valued in the millions.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, along with a $1.11 billion stock buyback program to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 56.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,784 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,730 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $10,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total transaction of $132,514.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,724,871.50. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.45, for a total transaction of $532,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,772 shares in the company, valued at $135,029,399.40. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,006 shares of company stock worth $11,153,394 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock opened at $269.23 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.40.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign Company 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.

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