VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Holdings Decreased by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 2.8%, now owning approximately 0.47% of the company worth $113 million.
• VeriSign's quarterly earnings showed a growth in revenue by 5.9% year-over-year, with an earnings per share of $2.21, surpassing estimates.
• Insiders sold a total of 47,706 shares in the last quarter, representing a notable decrease in their holdings, while the company also authorized a $1.11 billion stock buyback plan.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 445,972 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,019 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.47% of VeriSign worth $113,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,669,263,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 75.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 5.5% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $293,835,000 after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,987,000 after purchasing an additional 49,478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.87, for a total value of $567,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 487,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $138,369,308.93. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,706 shares of company stock worth $13,265,439. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSN. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One research 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 an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $285.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $277.61 and a 200-day moving average of $268.25. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.