Accurate Wealth Management LLC Takes $2.60 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Accurate Wealth Management LLC has acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc., purchasing 9,097 shares valued at approximately $2.60 million during the second quarter.
• VeriSign's CEO, D. James Bidzos, sold 5,000 shares at an average price of $264.15, reducing his ownership but retaining around 508,772 shares valued at approximately $134.39 million.
• The company recently announced a $1.11 billion share buyback plan, aiming to repurchase up to 4.1% of its outstanding shares, indicating management's confidence in its stock value.

Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,097 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,595,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $176,980,000 after acquiring an additional 695,102 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 477.1% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $200,880,000 after acquiring an additional 654,170 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after acquiring an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at about $86,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $286.64 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $175.62 and a one year high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $277.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.75.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VRSN. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.