Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Sells 6,915 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Ninety One SA PTY Ltd reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 24.1%, selling 6,915 shares to hold a total of 21,746 shares worth approximately $6,264,000.
• VeriSign reported a net margin of 50.05% with earnings of $2.21 per share, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, and a revenue of $409.90 million for the last quarter.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion stock repurchase plan and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd trimmed its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 24.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,746 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,915 shares during the period. VeriSign accounts for about 1.0% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $6,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 477.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $200,880,000 after purchasing an additional 654,170 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $86,014,000. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $67,388,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $279.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $277.68 and a 200-day moving average of $272.38. The stock has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.36 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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

VeriSign declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,205 shares of company stock valued at $12,587,894 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research 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, VeriSign currently has an average 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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