VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The information services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.40% and a net margin of 49.84%.The company had revenue of $428.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.50 million.

VeriSign Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $7.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $276.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,029,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,601. The business’s 50 day moving average is $244.46 and its 200-day moving average is $246.72. VeriSign has a 52 week low of $208.86 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44 and a beta of 0.70.

VeriSign Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from VeriSign’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.06, for a total value of $134,489.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,202 shares in the company, valued at $10,316,832.12. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 2,490 shares of company stock worth $626,690 over the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 104.5% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in VeriSign by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of VeriSign from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of VeriSign from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $270.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

VeriSign Company Profile

VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.

In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.