Korea Investment CORP Purchases 34,505 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP significantly increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 115.2%, acquiring an additional 34,505 shares to own a total of 64,448 shares worth approximately $16.36 million.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, set to be paid on August 27th, indicating a 1.1% dividend yield.
• The company initiated a stock buyback program allowing the repurchase of up to $1.11 billion in shares, a move that typically signals that management believes the stock is undervalued.

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 115.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,448 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 34,505 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of VeriSign worth $16,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake 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. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in VeriSign by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 406 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.8%

VeriSign stock opened at $271.42 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $279.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.46. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.62 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total transaction of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,035,201.04. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,006 shares of company stock valued at $11,153,394. 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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