Northstar Advisory Group LLC Invests $656,000 in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Northstar Advisory Group LLC has invested approximately $656,000 in VeriSign, Inc. by acquiring 2,272 shares, as reported in its recent Form 13F filing.
• VeriSign's stock has seen an increase in buy ratings, with analysts setting a consensus target price of $277.50 and one analyst providing a "Strong Buy" rating.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion stock buyback plan and a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, indicating confidence in its valuation and profitability.

Northstar Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,272 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on 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 assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $285.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.70. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 $134,392,123.80. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 47,706 shares of company stock worth $13,265,439 over the last 90 days. Company 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.

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