Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Takes $453,000 Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired 1,806 shares of VeriSign, Inc., valued at approximately $453,000, indicating institutional interest in the company.
• VeriSign's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.21, slightly surpassing analyst expectations and marking a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.9%.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion stock buyback program, reflecting management's belief that its shares are undervalued.

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,806 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% during the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 48.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $3.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $265.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,337,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,763. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $281.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.26. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.71, for a total transaction of $1,383,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 544,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,743,860.12. This trade represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,604 shares of company stock valued at $11,165,804 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Profile

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.