VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Twin Tree Management LP

Twin Tree Management LP lessened its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 89.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,525 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 22,075 shares during the quarter. Twin Tree Management LP’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 valued at $176,980,000 after buying an additional 695,102 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $86,014,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the fourth quarter worth about $45,526,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.5%

VRSN opened at $273.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.54 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $278.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.69.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

VeriSign declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $277.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $150,035,201.04. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 46,704 shares of company stock worth $12,946,686 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.