NextFin News - Amiral Gestion, the Paris-based independent asset manager known for its strict adherence to fundamental value investing, has dramatically increased its bet on VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), expanding its position by 1,142.3% during the final quarter of 2025. According to the firm’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the fund acquired an additional 101,474 shares, bringing its total holdings to 110,357 shares. The move catapulted the internet infrastructure provider to the third-largest position in Amiral Gestion’s portfolio, representing approximately 9.8% of its total assets under management.
The aggressive accumulation by Amiral Gestion stands in stark contrast to recent activity from VeriSign’s own leadership. In the first quarter of 2026, high-ranking insiders have been trimming their exposure. Executive Vice President Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 332 shares on March 10 at an average price of $240.62, while CEO D. James Bidzos offloaded 2,000 shares in mid-January at $248.28. While these sales represent less than 1% of their respective total holdings, the divergence between institutional conviction and insider liquidation highlights a period of valuation tension for the company that manages the .com and .net registries.
Amiral Gestion’s investment philosophy, centered on its "Sextant" fund range, typically targets companies that are "steeply undervalued" and managed without reference to market benchmarks. By making VeriSign a top-three holding, the firm is signaling a belief that the market is discounting the monopolistic durability of VeriSign’s registry contracts with ICANN. However, this high-conviction stance is not yet a consensus view on Wall Street. The broader analyst community remains cautious; data from MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" rating, with three analysts maintaining neutral stances against only two "Buy" recommendations.
The skepticism among some market participants stems from VeriSign’s recent financial performance and capital allocation shifts. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.23 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29. While revenue grew 7.6% year-over-year to $425.30 million, the miss on the bottom line suggests that rising operational costs or shifts in domain registration volumes may be pressuring margins. To compensate, VeriSign recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.81 per share, a move that provides a 1.3% yield but also signals a transition toward a more mature, income-oriented profile rather than a high-growth tech play.
Valuation remains the primary point of contention. Citigroup recently lowered its price target for VeriSign from $337.00 to $280.00, reflecting a more sober outlook on the stock’s near-term upside. With the stock opening at $247.48 on Friday, it sits comfortably above its 50-day moving average of $235.59 but remains well below its 12-month high of $310.60. For Amiral Gestion, the 1,142% stake increase suggests a long-term play on the essential nature of internet infrastructure, betting that the company’s negative return on equity—a technical byproduct of its aggressive share buyback programs—masks the true cash-generative power of its domain monopoly.
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