Warren Buffett’s 10 Longest-Held Stocks

7. VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Warren Buffett’s First Major Purchase: 2012

Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in Q3 2024: $2.43 billion

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN), a multinational provider of network infrastructure and domain name registry services, serves as the sole registry for the .com and .net domains. Berkshire recently spent about $45.4 million to add approximately 234,000 shares to its VRSN holdings. Buffett now owns a 14% stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN), with 13.3 million shares worth approximately $2.7 billion in Q4 2024.

Baird upgraded VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) stock back in December, moving the rating from Neutral to Outperform and raising the price target to $250 from $200. The decision followed a period of underperformance relative to the S&P 500, with VeriSign’s shares remaining roughly flat over the last five years while the S&P 500 has grown. According to Baird, regulatory concerns that had previously weighed on VeriSign’s stock have been resolved, allowing the company to refocus on its domain growth strategy.

VeriSign’s third quarter 2024 results showed a modest 3.8% increase in revenue to $391 million, as well as a 13.1% increase in earnings per share to $2.07. During the quarter, the company repurchased 1.7 million shares for $301 million and maintained a steady liquidity position of $645 million in cash.