VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,584 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in VeriSign during the second quarter worth $34,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

VeriSign stock opened at $270.78 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.49. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.62 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31 and a beta of 0.79.

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

VeriSign announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign’s payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.48, for a total transaction of $576,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,439 shares in the company, valued at $137,443,122.72. This represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,933,715.48. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,704 shares of company stock worth $11,019,957. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment 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, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.