Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $589,000 Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Douglas Lane & Associates LLC has significantly reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 65.2%, owning 2,040 shares valued at $589,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• VeriSign's quarterly earnings report indicated an EPS of $2.21, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.01, with revenue of $409.90 million, slightly below analyst expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, implying an annualized dividend yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 36.75%.

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 65.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,040 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,819 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% during the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $284.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 136,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 853,683. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $175.62 and a one year high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $26.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88 and a beta of 0.79. The business's fifty day moving average price is $277.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.62.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total value of $141,422.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at $9,933,715.48. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.