AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 75.5% during Q1, owning approximately 2,329,640 shares worth nearly $586 million.
• VeriSign's quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share of $2.21, exceeding analysts’ expectations by $0.01, with a 5.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion stock buyback plan that enables the repurchase of up to 4.1% of its shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 75.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. VeriSign accounts for approximately 0.6% of AQR Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 2.48% of VeriSign worth $586,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $176,980,000 after buying an additional 695,102 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after buying an additional 504,748 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,062,000 after buying an additional 403,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $86,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $273.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $277.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.74. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling 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, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total value of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 526,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,035,201.04. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,704 shares of company stock worth $12,946,686. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

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.

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