Harbour Investments Inc. Buys 2,921 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 14,605.0% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 2,921 shares to reach a total of 2,941 shares valued at $849,000.
• VeriSign reported $2.21 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a net margin of 50.05% and quarterly revenue of $409.90 million.
• The company also authorized a $1.11 billion stock buyback plan, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 14,605.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,941 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,921 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $264.79 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $274.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.17.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total value of $528,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 469,439 shares in the company, valued at $123,960,062.34. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.92, for a total transaction of $131,722.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,988,971.88. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,706 shares of company stock worth $10,591,676 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign 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.

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