Caxton Associates LLP Buys Shares of 30,791 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc., purchasing 30,791 shares valued at approximately $7.8 million in the first quarter.
• VeriSign announced a $1.11 billion share repurchase program, indicating its board believes the shares are undervalued.
• Insider activity included CEO D James Bidzos selling 5,000 shares, resulting in a 0.94% decrease in his ownership of the company.

Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,791 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,817,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,671,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock traded down $3.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $285.52. 446,481 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 862,921. 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 $26.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $277.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.92.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 36.75%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,392,123.80. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,706 shares of company stock valued at $13,265,439. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.