Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC Buys New Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC has acquired a new stake of 2,640 shares in VeriSign, Inc., valued at approximately $670,000, making it the fund's 29th largest holding.
• VeriSign reported earnings of $2.21 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 5.9% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company’s board has approved a share buyback program to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares, indicating a belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,640 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $670,000. VeriSign makes up approximately 0.5% of Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $273,853,000 after buying an additional 229,311 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 58.2% in 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 buying an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% in 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 buying an additional 49,478 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN stock traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $269.55. The stock had a trading volume of 508,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,881. The firm has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The company's 50-day moving average price is $279.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.50.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total transaction of $132,514.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,724,871.50. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,706 shares of company stock valued at $13,225,964 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.