Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,147 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the quarter. VeriSign comprises about 2.0% of Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $5,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSN opened at $287.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30 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.

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

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid 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 Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 508,772 shares in the company, valued at $134,392,123.80. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,706 shares of company stock valued at $10,719,609. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.