Soros Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Soros Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 188.4%, making it the firm's largest position at approximately 8.8% of its total holdings.
• VeriSign recently announced a $1.11 billion stock repurchase plan, reflecting confidence from its leadership about the company's stock being undervalued.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, which will be paid on August 27th, representing an annualized yield of 1.1%.

Soros Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 188.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,392 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 88,438 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises approximately 8.8% of Soros Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Soros Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of VeriSign worth $34,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,671,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 2.3% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,334 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.1% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of VRSN stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $272.00. 726,229 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 960,207. The company has a market capitalization of $25.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average is $278.56 and its 200 day moving average is $264.56. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign's payout ratio is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total value of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,035,201.04. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 47,205 shares of company stock valued at $13,084,682 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.