1,110 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Bought by Evergreen Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Evergreen Capital Management LLC made a new investment of $282,000 in VeriSign, purchasing 1,110 shares of the company.
• VeriSign reported earnings of $2.21 per share for the last quarter, slightly beating analysts' expectations, and announced a share buyback plan of $1.11 billion.
• The company's stock recently opened at $274.11 and has a market cap of $25.60 billion, with a consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts.

Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,110 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,669,263,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $227,062,000 after acquiring an additional 403,760 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,987,000 after acquiring an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 704,279 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $145,758,000 after buying an additional 81,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the 1st 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 during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $281.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 439,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 862,679. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $277.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.94. The company has a market cap of $26.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.55 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The business'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 announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,126,680. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.46, for a total value of $135,500.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,653,258.32. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,205 shares of company stock worth $13,082,187 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment 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.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus 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.