LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Raises Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,929 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. VeriSign accounts for about 0.9% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $10,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in VeriSign by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,669,263,000 after acquiring an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $586,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,510 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in VeriSign by 71.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $307,098,000 after acquiring an additional 500,223 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $293,835,000 after purchasing an additional 60,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in VeriSign by 5.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $259,987,000 after purchasing an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $272.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $276.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.88.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total value of $576,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,205 shares of company stock worth $12,587,894. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $277.50.

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.