Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Invests $565,000 in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,955 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,669,263,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 75.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,329,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $586,417,000 after buying an additional 1,002,510 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,202,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $307,098,000 after buying an additional 500,223 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $293,835,000 after buying an additional 60,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $259,987,000 after buying an additional 49,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.92, for a total value of $131,722.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,988,971.88. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.54, for a total transaction of $523,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 460,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,423,216.06. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,451,906 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 2.8%

VeriSign stock opened at $240.37 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.62 and a 12-month high of $310.60. The stock has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.95.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced 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 net margin of 49.86% and a negative return on equity of 40.66%. The firm had revenue of $419.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. VeriSign’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% 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 share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 target price on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $281.67.

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.