VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Position Reduced by Liontrust Investment Partners LLP

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 3.8%, now owning approximately 436,549 shares worth $110.83 million, making it the firm’s 22nd largest position.
• VeriSign has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77, representing an annualized yield of 1.2%, and also authorized a $1.11 billion stock repurchase plan.
• Analysts have raised VeriSign's price target from $285 to $305, with a consensus rating of "outperform" from Robert W. Baird and a "buy" rating from Citigroup.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP trimmed its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 436,549 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 17,146 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises 1.7% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP owned about 0.46% of VeriSign worth $110,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $176,980,000 after purchasing an additional 695,102 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after buying an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 403,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at about $86,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN traded up $2.19 on Wednesday, reaching $271.42. The company had a trading volume of 668,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,645. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $279.89 and a 200-day moving average of $262.46.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total transaction of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at $150,035,201.04. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 40,006 shares of company stock valued at $11,153,394 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.