Birch Capital Management LLC Has $1.16 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Birch Capital Management LLC raised its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,001 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRSN. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $277.50.

VeriSign Price Performance

VRSN opened at $261.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $275.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.55. VeriSign, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.62 and a fifty-two week high of $310.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26 and a beta of 0.79.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million for 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 business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign’s payout ratio is 36.75%.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.43, for a total transaction of $1,342,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 498,304 shares in the company, valued at $133,759,742.72. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,205 shares of company stock worth $10,577,083. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.