Capital Fund Management S.A. Sells 10,153 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 38.5%, owning 16,224 shares valued at approximately $4.12 million after selling 10,153 shares during the first quarter.
• VeriSign recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, to be issued to shareholders on August 27th.
• Analysts have given VeriSign a consensus rating of "Buy" with a price target of $277.50, with a recent upward revision from Robert W. Baird increasing the target to $305.00.

Capital Fund Management S.A. decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 38.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,224 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,153 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $176,980,000 after purchasing an additional 695,102 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in VeriSign by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after acquiring an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $86,014,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $271.90. The company had a trading volume of 479,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,836. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $278.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.21.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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 program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued 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 currently 36.75%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total transaction of $132,514.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,767 shares in the company, valued at $9,724,871.50. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,205 shares of company stock worth $13,084,682 in the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRSN shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

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.