VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by USS Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 15.5%, now owning 17,297 shares valued at approximately $4.39 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Rakuten Securities and UMB Bank, made significant changes to their positions in VeriSign, contributing to institutional ownership rising to 92.90%.
• VeriSign recently announced a share repurchase program of $1.11 billion, indicating the board's belief that the company's stock is currently undervalued.

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,297 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during 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 in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.87, for a total transaction of $567,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 487,439 shares in the company, valued at $138,369,308.93. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,126,680. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,706 shares of company stock worth $13,265,439 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

VeriSign stock traded down $3.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $285.52. 449,905 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 863,946. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $277.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.92. The company has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.VeriSign's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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, VeriSign presently has a consensus 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.