Chokshi & Queen Wealth Advisors Inc Buys Shares of 930 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Chokshi & Queen Wealth Advisors Inc has invested approximately $236,000 in VeriSign, Inc., acquiring 930 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• VeriSign recently declared a $0.77 quarterly dividend, yielding about 1.1% annually, with a payout ratio of 36.75%.
• Institutional ownership of VeriSign is substantial, with institutional investors holding 92.90% of the company's stock, indicating strong institutional confidence.

Chokshi & Queen Wealth Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 930 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $3.85 on Friday, hitting $285.52. The stock had a trading volume of 449,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 700,890. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $277.61 and its 200-day moving average is $268.25. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,706 shares of company stock worth $13,265,439. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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 two have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.