Northern Trust Corp Acquires 49,478 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $259.99 million.
• VeriSign has initiated a $1.11 billion share buyback plan, allowing the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock, indicating management's belief in its undervaluation.
• The company's recent quarterly dividend is set at $0.77, with an annual yield of 1.1%, alongside a quarterly revenue increase of 5.9% year-over-year.

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 49,478 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.09% of VeriSign worth $259,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 898 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 44,760 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,363,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at about $152,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 548.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 92,825 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,565,000 after purchasing an additional 78,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 11,011 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN traded down $2.69 on Friday, hitting $269.55. 508,800 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,234,881. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $279.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.50. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.62 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.78.

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. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The business had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total transaction of $1,424,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at $150,035,201.04. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,706 shares of company stock worth $13,225,964. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.