Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Shares in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,113 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 56.5% in the 2nd 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. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in VeriSign by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in VeriSign by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $240.18 on Wednesday. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $269.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.84.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.02. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.66% and a net margin of 49.86%.The company had revenue of $419.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 currently 35.90%.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRSN. Robert W. Baird set a $325.00 price objective on VeriSign in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded VeriSign to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $281.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.15, for a total transaction of $1,320,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Danny R. Mcpherson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.87, for a total value of $592,175.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,769,033.99. This represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,705 shares of company stock worth $12,909,061. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.