Board of the Pension Protection Fund Buys Shares of 5,400 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• The Pension Protection Fund acquired 5,400 shares of VeriSign, Inc. valued at approximately $1,560,000, making it the 14th largest holding of the fund.
• VeriSign has initiated a stock repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to $1.11 billion worth of shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported $2.21 earnings per share in its latest quarter, slightly above the consensus estimate, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share.

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,400 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,560,000. VeriSign accounts for approximately 1.7% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,290 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,726,000 after acquiring an additional 6,158 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,463 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. waypoint wealth counsel raised its holdings in VeriSign by 107.8% during the 2nd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 2,120 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in VeriSign by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 23,575 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $260.82 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $275.45 and a 200 day moving average of $273.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to repurchase 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,439 shares in the company, valued at $137,443,122.72. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,126,680. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,205 shares of company stock worth $10,577,083 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.

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