GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 569 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 20.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,315 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total value of $141,422.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 90 days, insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.4%

VRSN opened at $286.64 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.72 and a 200-day moving average of $270.75. The stock has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its 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. 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.