Ninety One UK Ltd Has $793.34 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 29.1% during the second quarter, now owning approximately $793.34 million worth of shares, making it the 14th largest position in their portfolio.
• Analysts have shown positive sentiment towards VeriSign, with ratings reflecting a consensus of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50, influenced by upgrades from firms like Robert W. Baird.
• VeriSign recently initiated a $1.11 billion stock buyback program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Ninety One UK Ltd lowered its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 29.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,747,020 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,128,240 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises about 1.9% of Ninety One UK Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ninety One UK Ltd owned 2.93% of VeriSign worth $793,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at about $641,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 118.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,285 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $55,924,000 after buying an additional 119,368 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at about $508,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at about $351,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 35.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total transaction of $1,342,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 498,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,759,742.72. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,205 shares of company stock worth $12,587,894. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $279.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.62 and a 1-year high of $310.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.38.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. 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 given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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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