Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 2,693 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 68.2%, selling 2,693 shares and leaving them with 1,258 shares valued at $363,000.
• VeriSign recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share and has initiated a share buyback program worth $1.11 billion.
• Despite Janney's reduction, institutional investors own 92.90% of VeriSign's stock, indicating strong institutional support.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 68.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,258 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,693 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 56.5% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $264.79 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $274.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.17. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 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 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 firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign'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 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 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 yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRSN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.