UMB Bank n.a. Acquires 30,691 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by an unprecedented 19,302.5%, owning a total of 30,850 shares valued at approximately $8.9 million.
• VeriSign's %stock has seen significant movements, with a recent dividend of $0.77 per share and a market capitalization of $26.37 billion.
• Insiders, including CEO D James Bidzos, have sold shares recently; Bidzos sold 2,000 shares for approximately $576,960, indicating a 0.42% reduction in his ownership.

UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 19,302.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,850 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,691 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $8,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $586,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $176,980,000 after purchasing an additional 695,102 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 477.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $200,880,000 after acquiring an additional 654,170 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth $86,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,392,123.80. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,733,269. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $2.97 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $285.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 432,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,503. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $175.62 and a one year high of $310.60. The business's fifty day moving average price is $277.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.64. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.