根据 Source: Caixin News
Author: Bian Chun
① Berkshire has purchased approximately 0.02 million shares of VeriSign common stock, totaling around 30 million yuan; ② Analysts suggest that VeriSign's high profit margins may be a significant reason for Berkshire's Shareholding increase; ③ Citigroup analysts recently listed VeriSign as a "preferred stock" for 2025, citing the company's potential for steady growth in 2025.
In the investment field, every move of the "stock god" Warren Buffett is regarded as a market weather vane. Recently, Berkshire Hathaway, led by Buffett, has frequently increased its shareholding in an Internet Plus-Related domain name service provider. $VeriSign (VRSN.US)$ This has attracted widespread attention from investors.
According to $Berkshire Hathaway-B (BRK.B.US)$ A document submitted to the USA Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late last week stated that the company purchased approximately 0.02 million shares of VeriSign common stock between December 31, 2024, and January 3, 2025, for a total amount of about 4.1 million USD, equivalent to approximately 30 million RMB.
Recently. $Berkshire Hathaway-B (BRK.B.US)$ Multiple Shareholdings in VeriSign's Stocks, previously on three trading days ending December 24, 2024, the company increased investments by 28.55 million USD to Buy 143,424 shares of VeriSign.
Currently, Berkshire is the largest Shareholder of VeriSign, holding nearly 14% of the company's issued stock, amounting to approximately 13.3 million shares with a value of around 2.7 billion USD.
In fact, Berkshire has held a significant amount of VeriSign shares for many years, beginning its purchase of VeriSign stock over a decade ago, with the first acquisition taking place in the fourth quarter of 2012.
This round of purchases started at the end of last year. Since mid-December last year, Berkshire has acquired approximately 0.5 million shares of VeriSign.
According to reports, VeriSign is an Internet infrastructure service company established in 1995 and located in California, USA. The company mainly engages in business related to domain registration and Cybersecurity infrastructure services, playing a key role in the underlying architecture of the Internet.
The company has a unique advantage in its niche. According to the 2024 industry data, VeriSign currently manages over 70% of the .com and .net domain names globally, and this proportion has steadily grown over the past five years, giving VeriSign a strong market dominance and significant bargaining power.
Why has VeriSign gained the favor of the investment guru?
As for the recent intentions to significantly increase holdings in VeriSign, Buffett has not made any public statements so far. However, considering that Buffett has always advocated value investing, his substantial increase in holdings indicates recognition of the company's long-term value.
Analysts have suggested that VeriSign's high profit margin may be a significant reason behind Berkshire's increased shareholdings.
根据截至2024年第三季度的财务数据，威瑞信在$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$利润率排行榜上位列第五，约为56%，与$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$并列。在营业利润率方面，该公司排名第三，在毛利率方面，排名第13。
Is there a possibility of the stock price increasing by another 50%?
In recent years, due to regulatory pressure and uncertainty about future growth, VeriSign's stock price performance has been relatively flat. In the recently concluded year of 2024, VeriSign's stock price only rose by about 2%, while the S&P 500 Index increased by about 23% during the same period.
However, perhaps influenced by Berkshire's multiple increases in holdings, VeriSign's stock price has been on the rise since December 19, 2024, with a cumulative increase of about 7%. As of the market close on January 3, 2025, the company's stock price was $205.62 per share.
Citi's Analyst recently listed VeriSign as its "preferred stock" for 2025, citing the company's expectation for robust growth in 2025.
Citi maintains a "Buy" rating on VeriSign, with the latest Target Price set at $238.00, which is 16% higher than the current level. In an optimistic scenario, Citi expects the stock to rise to $312, a potential increase of slightly more than 50%.
Citi's Analyst believes that, given VeriSign's almost utility-like nature as a domain registration institution, its Business is relatively stable, with strong predictability of results and a narrower risk range, making it one of the safer investment choices in the Internet Plus-Related field for investors.
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