Symmetry Partners LLC Acquires New Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Symmetry Partners LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 703 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

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

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $284.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company 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. 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 (DPR) is 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,443,122.72. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,933,715.48. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,733,269 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Company 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.