VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Holdings Raised by Cwm LLC

Key Points

• Cwm LLC has increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 37.0%, now owning approximately 0.06% of the company's stock worth $15.5 million.
• VeriSign has announced a stock repurchase plan allowing the buyback of up to $1.11 billion in outstanding shares, representing 4.1% of its stock, indicating the board believes shares are undervalued.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Cwm LLC increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 37.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,687 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,506 shares during the period. Cwm LLC owned approximately 0.06% of VeriSign worth $15,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,669,263,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in VeriSign by 75.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $586,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002,510 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $293,835,000 after buying an additional 60,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in VeriSign by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,987,000 after buying an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $264.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51 and a beta of 0.79. The company's fifty day moving average is $275.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.05. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,126,680. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,205 shares of company stock worth $9,166,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of 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 three have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.

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