Strs Ohio Buys Shares of 11,400 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a stake of 11,400 shares in VeriSign, Inc., valued at approximately $2.89 million, during the first quarter of the year.
• VeriSign's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations with earnings per share (EPS) of $2.21 and reported revenue of $409.90 million, which is up 5.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion share repurchase plan as well as a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, indicating the board's confidence in the stock's value.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,400 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,894,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

VeriSign stock traded down $3.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $282.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,478,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,163. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $277.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. VeriSign'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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued 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 (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,933,715.48. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Company 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.