Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Increases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. by 5.5%, acquiring an additional 60,293 shares, bringing their total holdings to approximately 1.23% of the company valued at $293.8 million.
• CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock for around $541,420, which resulted in a 0.4% decrease in his ownership of the company.
• VeriSign recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, representing a 1.1% yield, and initiated a stock repurchase plan authorizing the buyback of up to $1.11 billion in shares.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises about 1.2% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 1.23% of VeriSign worth $293,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $1,101,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 8,080 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,672,000 after buying an additional 4,425 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in VeriSign by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 276,060 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $57,133,000 after buying an additional 6,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,665 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock traded up $2.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,531,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,183. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $277.43 and a 200 day moving average of $267.30. 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 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 the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.71, for a total transaction of $541,420.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 496,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,354,455.84. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,205 shares of company stock worth $11,698,637. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.