Fifth Third Bancorp Has $1.16 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. $VRSN

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in VeriSign by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, Director Timothy Tomlinson sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $189,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,126,680. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.28, for a total transaction of $141,422.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,933,715.48. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,706 shares of company stock worth $12,733,269. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Price Performance

Shares of VRSN opened at $284.42 on Monday. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $175.62 and a one year high of $310.60. The company has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $277.84 and a 200-day moving average of $272.01.

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

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. VeriSign’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, VeriSign presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.50.

VeriSign 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.