Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B-) Rating for VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Buy (B-)" rating for VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN), indicating a positive outlook on the company's stock.
• VeriSign's most recent earnings report showed $2.27 earnings per share (EPS), slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, and the company reported a 7.3% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• The company has initiated a stock repurchase plan allowing for up to $1.11 billion in buybacks, suggesting that management believes the stock is undervalued.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating restated by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a research note on Friday. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.50.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $3.50 on Friday, reaching $247.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,767,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,341. VeriSign has a 1-year low of $175.62 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day moving average price is $273.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.47.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 41.04% and a net margin of 49.86%.The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $416.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.92, for a total value of $131,722.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,988,971.88. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total value of $523,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 460,439 shares in the company, valued at $120,423,216.06. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,451,906 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 112.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 102 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

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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