Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 48,932 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 87.8%, acquiring an additional 48,932 shares, bringing its total ownership to 104,653 shares valued at approximately $26.57 million.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, with a total annualized dividend of $3.08, representing a yield of 1.1%, alongside a $1.11 billion stock buyback plan authorized by its board.
• Several brokerages have issued positive ratings for VeriSign, with Robert W. Baird raising the price target from $285 to $305 and two analysts assigning a Buy rating, reflecting strong market confidence.

Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,653 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 48,932 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.11% of VeriSign worth $26,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in VeriSign by 35.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,746,661,000 after buying an additional 455,844 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 358.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,017 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,775,000 after buying an additional 54,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth approximately $329,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.71, for a total transaction of $541,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 496,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $134,354,455.84. The trade was a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total transaction of $132,514.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,767 shares in the company, valued at $9,724,871.50. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,205 shares of company stock worth $13,084,682. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $273.37. The stock had a trading volume of 826,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,858. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $278.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $175.62 and a one year 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 firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a 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 issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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.