Greenleaf Trust Reduces Stock Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during 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 purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $275.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $277.16 and its 200 day moving average is $272.65. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.62 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS 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 company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program 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 buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,443,122.72. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total value of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,205 shares of company stock valued at $12,587,894 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $277.50.

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.