Patton Fund Management Inc. Invests $3.35 Million in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. invested approximately $3.35 million in VeriSign, Inc., acquiring 11,585 shares, which now represents 2.3% of its portfolio.
• VeriSign reported a net margin of 50.05% for its last quarter, with earnings per share of $2.21, slightly surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company has approved a $1.11 billion stock repurchase program, indicating management's belief that its stock is currently undervalued.

Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 11,585 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,346,000. VeriSign comprises 2.3% of Patton Fund Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reaffirmed 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 company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were 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 owned 35,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,933,715.48. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN opened at $284.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.49. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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