Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Has $30.51 Million Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 105,649 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,107 shares during the period. VeriSign comprises 1.3% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $30,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 56.5% in the second 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 period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSN. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.50.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $266.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $274.78 and its 200-day moving average is $274.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80 and a beta of 0.79. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.62 and a 52 week high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $409.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total value of $1,320,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 508,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,392,123.80. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 38,706 shares of company stock valued at $10,591,676 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

VeriSign Company 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.