Waterfront Wealth Inc. Sells 177 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Waterfront Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,315 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 35.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 32.9% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter worth $47,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 6.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,806 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,224,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,988,971.88. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total value of $523,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 460,439 shares in the company, valued at $120,423,216.06. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,451,906 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 2.8%

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $240.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.95. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 0.79.

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

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given 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 yield of 1.3%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $281.67.

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.