LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Acquires Shares of 2,011 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI acquired 2,011 shares of VeriSign, Inc., valued at approximately $581,000, in the 2nd quarter of the year.
• VeriSign's CEO, D. James Bidzos, sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock for around $1.32 million, decreasing his ownership by 0.97%.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion share buyback program, indicating that the board believes its shares are undervalued.

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,011 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in VeriSign by 106.5% in the first 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. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 508,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,392,123.80. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,706 shares of company stock worth $13,265,439. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $285.52 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.61 and a 200-day moving average of $268.25. The company has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.50.

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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