Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Buys 531,041 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. significantly increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc., buying 531,041 shares and owning a total of 860,068 shares, with a value of approximately $248.4 million.
• CEO D. James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign for $576,960, decreasing his ownership by 0.42%, while other executives have also sold shares recently.
• VeriSign paid a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, with a yield of 1.1%, following the announcement of a $1.11 billion share buyback program.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 161.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 860,068 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 531,041 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned 0.92% of VeriSign worth $248,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at $9,933,715.48. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,205 shares of company stock valued at $12,587,894. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $274.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $277.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.40.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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