Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 119,368 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 118.3%, owning approximately 0.23% of the company, valued at about $55.9 million.
• VeriSign recently announced a $1.11 billion stock buyback plan, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued, alongside a quarterly dividend of $0.77.
• Brokerages have raised their price targets on VeriSign, with Robert W. Baird increasing it from $285 to $305, reflecting positive sentiment about the stock's performance.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 118.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220,285 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 119,368 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.23% of VeriSign worth $55,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.71, for a total transaction of $541,420.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 496,304 shares in the company, valued at $134,354,455.84. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,284 shares in the company, 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 have sold 46,704 shares of company stock worth $12,946,686 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded down $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $273.20. 606,387 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 799,585. The business's fifty day moving average is $277.98 and its 200 day moving average is $265.74. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.