WESPAC Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 3,423 VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Key Points

• WESPAC Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc., purchasing 3,423 shares valued at approximately $989,000.
• Research firms have recently boosted their ratings for VeriSign, with Robert W. Baird raising the price target from $285.00 to $305.00 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, representing a 1.1% yield, and initiated a share repurchase plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $1.11 billion in shares.

WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,423 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $989,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $270.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $273.47. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25 and a beta of 0.79.

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 (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total value of $1,342,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 498,304 shares in the company, valued at $133,759,742.72. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,704 shares of company stock valued at $10,441,377. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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