1,377 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by GC Wealth Management RIA LLC

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC purchased 1,377 shares of VeriSign, Inc. valued at approximately $398,000 during the second quarter.
• VeriSign has announced a $1.11 billion share buyback plan, allowing the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock, indicating management's belief that the shares are undervalued.
• Despite recent insider selling, including CEO D James Bidzos offloading 2,000 shares, VeriSign's institutional ownership sits at 92.90%, showcasing strong institutional confidence in the company.

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,377 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $586,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 477.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $200,880,000 after purchasing an additional 654,170 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $86,014,000. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $67,388,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.7%

VRSN stock opened at $274.92 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.81 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day moving average is $277.39 and its 200 day moving average is $272.40.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,205 shares of company stock worth $12,587,894. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.

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