4,650 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Purchased by Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired 4,650 shares of VeriSign, Inc. valued at approximately $1.18 million during the first quarter.
• Significant ownership changes include Rakuten Securities Inc. boosting its stake by 13,000% and several other institutional investors increasing their positions, indicating strong institutional interest.
• VeriSign reported a 5.9% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, with earnings of $2.21 per share, slightly exceeding analyst expectations.

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,650 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,180,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $45,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $0.85 on Wednesday, hitting $274.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 252,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,740. The firm has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.70 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $277.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.74.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.50.

Insider Activity

In other VeriSign 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 value of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at $150,035,201.04. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 46,704 shares of company stock worth $12,946,686 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

VeriSign Company 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.