Royal Bank of Canada Has $24.94 Million Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 41.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,252 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 70,470 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.10% of VeriSign worth $24,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $176,980,000 after buying an additional 695,102 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $143,319,000 after buying an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $86,014,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at $45,526,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $3.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $285.52. 449,907 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 700,890. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.25.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total value of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,706 shares of company stock valued at $13,265,439. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign 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.