Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 954 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC acquired 954 shares of VeriSign, Inc., valued at approximately $274,000, according to its recent SEC filing.
• CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company for around $1.32 million, reducing his ownership by 0.97%.
• Analysts have given VeriSign a consensus rating of "Buy" with a price target increase to $305.00 from previous estimates.

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 954 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 75.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $293,835,000 after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $259,987,000 after purchasing an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 38,706 shares of company stock worth $10,591,676 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $266.92 on Tuesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The business's 50-day moving average price is $274.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.49. The firm has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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 authorized a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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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