Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Sells 1,178 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 17.3%, selling 1,178 shares during the second quarter, and now owns 5,643 shares valued at $1.617 million.
• Other institutional investors, such as Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC and CWM LLC, increased their stakes in VeriSign by 51.6% and 37.0% respectively during the same period.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share and set a buyback program worth $1.11 billion, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 17.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,643 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,178 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,151 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign by 37.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 53,687 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,505,000 after buying an additional 14,506 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management grew its holdings in VeriSign by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 405 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,560,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.92, for a total transaction of $131,722.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,988,971.88. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,706 shares of company stock valued at $8,735,706 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $265.74 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $275.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.VeriSign's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

VeriSign Company 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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