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

UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 19,302.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,850 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying 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 the company. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,027,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 704,279 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $145,758,000 after purchasing an additional 81,580 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,905 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,439 shares in the company, valued at $137,443,122.72. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $9,933,715.48. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $282.28 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $277.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. The firm’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 announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is 36.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.