VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Acquired by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 6.0%, now owning approximately 60,498 shares valued at $15.36 million.
• Several large investors significantly adjusted their positions in VeriSign during the first quarter, including Rakuten Securities, which boosted its stake by an astounding 13,000.0%.
• VeriSign has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 and announced a $1.11 billion stock buyback program, indicating a belief that its stock is undervalued.

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,498 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of VeriSign worth $15,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $243,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in VeriSign by 477.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $200,880,000 after acquiring an additional 654,170 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 75.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $586,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after acquiring an additional 500,223 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded up $2.79 on Tuesday, hitting $285.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,532,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,189. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 0.79.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 36.75%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total value of $1,424,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,035,201.04. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 42,205 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,637 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.