Alta Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Alta Capital Management LLC lifted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,072 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of VeriSign worth $19,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 477.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 791,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $200,880,000 after acquiring an additional 654,170 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 161.4% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 860,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $248,388,000 after acquiring an additional 531,041 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 500,223 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $86,014,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of VRSN opened at $265.74 on Thursday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.62 and a 12 month high of $310.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $275.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.93. The firm has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,988,971.88. The trade was a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,443,122.72. The trade was a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,706 shares of company stock worth $8,735,706. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VRSN. 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 raised their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, VeriSign currently has a consensus 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.