Willow Creek Wealth Management Inc. Has $2.08 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Willow Creek Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Willow Creek Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $2,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in VeriSign during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 56.5% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 97 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of VeriSign in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,733,269. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VRSN stock opened at $284.42 on Friday. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.62 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.74.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VeriSign currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.50.

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.