VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Sold by Applied Finance Capital Management LLC

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,669,263,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $586,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,835,000 after buying an additional 60,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $259,987,000 after buying an additional 49,478 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VRSN opened at $264.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.04. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its 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. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.06, for a total transaction of $528,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 469,439 shares in the company, valued at $123,960,062.34. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.92, for a total transaction of $131,722.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 34,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,988,971.88. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,706 shares of company stock valued at $10,591,676. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $277.50.

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.