VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Stock Position Decreased by Voleon Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP significantly reduced its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. by 51.6% during the first quarter, selling over 13,000 shares.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for VeriSign, with a recent price target increase from $285 to $305 by Robert W. Baird.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share and authorized a stock buyback program worth $1.11 billion, signaling confidence in the company's undervaluation.

Voleon Capital Management LP cut its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 51.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,320 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,134 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP's holdings in VeriSign were worth $3,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 75.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $586,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in VeriSign by 34,326.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $176,980,000 after purchasing an additional 695,102 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 477.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $200,880,000 after purchasing an additional 654,170 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 268.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after purchasing an additional 504,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $307,098,000 after purchasing an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

VeriSign Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of VeriSign stock traded down $3.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $285.52. 446,481 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 862,921. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $277.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.92.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during 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%. VeriSign's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares in the company, valued at $134,392,123.80. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,706 shares of company stock valued at $13,265,439. 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.