NFJ Investment Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 38.5% during the 1st quarter, now holding 21,896 shares worth $5,559,000.
• VeriSign reported $2.21 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly beating analysts' expectations and marking a 5.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a share buyback program worth $1.11 billion, indicating confidence in its stock valuation and allowing up to 4.1% of its shares to be repurchased.

NFJ Investment Group LLC lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 38.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,896 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,720 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,669,263,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $586,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $293,835,000 after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in VeriSign by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $259,987,000 after purchasing an additional 49,478 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of VRSN stock traded up $3.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $287.37. 250,917 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 863,670. The company has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.31 and a beta of 0.79. The firm's 50-day moving average is $277.39 and its 200 day moving average is $267.54. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 508,772 shares in the company, valued at $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,706 shares of company stock valued at $11,281,499. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.