VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 27.9%, selling 88,356 shares to hold a total of 228,788 shares valued at approximately $58 million.
• VeriSign reported $2.21 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 50.05% and a 5.9% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $1.11 billion share buyback program, which indicates that its board believes the stock is undervalued, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,788 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 88,356 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.24% of VeriSign worth $58,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,310,000. Mariner LLC raised its position in VeriSign by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,077,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth $252,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 491.4% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,392 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 6,142 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $2.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $271.42. 668,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,252,645. The firm has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average is $279.89 and its 200 day moving average is $262.46. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total value of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at $150,035,201.04. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 40,006 shares of company stock valued at $11,153,394 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

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.