Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 747 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 15,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,205 shares of company stock worth $8,603,983 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN opened at $265.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $275.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $273.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 approved a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, VeriSign has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.