Essex LLC Sells 175 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Essex LLC lessened its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,982 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. 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 grew its stake in VeriSign by 56.5% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $265.01 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $275.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.99. The firm has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released 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. The business 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,126,680. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares in the company, valued at $137,443,122.72. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,205 shares of company stock valued at $8,603,983. 0.84% of the stock is currently 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.