Willis Investment Counsel Raises Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,283 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 226 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Gries Financial LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.57, for a total value of $1,327,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 471,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,200,055.23. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 47,839 shares of company stock valued at $12,660,539 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 1.1%

VRSN stock opened at $248.42 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.67 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $262.25 and a 200 day moving average of $273.13.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

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.