1,701 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired 1,701 shares of VeriSign, Inc. for approximately $491,000 in the second quarter.
• CEO D. James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares at an average price of $268.43, reducing his ownership by 0.99% and bringing his stake to approximately $133.76 million.
• VeriSign's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.21, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, with a 5.9% year-over-year revenue increase.

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,701 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 56.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total value of $1,342,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 498,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,759,742.72. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 38,205 shares of company stock valued at $10,577,083 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $267.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.97 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $275.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.43. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.62 and a 1-year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign declared that its board has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

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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