JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) Stock Price

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $308.00 to $316.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the information services provider’s stock.

VRSN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $305.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued 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 price target of $328.75.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $280.00 on Friday. VeriSign has a fifty-two week low of $208.86 and a fifty-two week high of $312.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.26. The firm has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37 and a beta of 0.71.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.02. VeriSign had a net margin of 49.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.73%. The firm had revenue of $434.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that VeriSign will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.09, for a total transaction of $878,097.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 422,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $112,513,229.51. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.23, for a total transaction of $67,307.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,010.73. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,300 shares of company stock worth $7,125,942 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of VeriSign

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth approximately $312,900,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth approximately $149,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,169 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,700,000 after purchasing an additional 496,674 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 191.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 626,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,225,000 after purchasing an additional 411,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 1,035.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 420,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383,771 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting VeriSign

Here are the key news stories impacting VeriSign this week:

• Positive Sentiment: VeriSign reported second-quarter results that topped estimates, with EPS of $2.38 versus $2.36 expected and revenue of $434.6 million, up 6% year over year. The stronger-than-expected quarter suggests steady demand for domain registrations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company lifted its FY2026 outlook, calling for revenue of $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion, reinforcing confidence that growth can continue after the latest quarter. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: VeriSign announced that .web has been delegated into the DNS root zone, with the company as registry operator. That adds a potential long-term growth opportunity for domain registrations and registry revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised its price target on VeriSign to $324 from $318 and kept an outperform rating, implying additional upside relative to the current trading level. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan also raised its price target to $316 from $308, even while maintaining a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations for the stock’s value. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: VeriSign declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which supports the stock’s income profile but is not a major growth driver by itself.

About VeriSign

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.