ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Invests $895,000 in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. invested $895,000 in VeriSign, Inc., acquiring 3,526 shares during the 1st quarter.
• VeriSign is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.77 on August 27th, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%.
• The company has authorized a stock buyback plan of up to $1.11 billion, indicating the board's belief that the shares are undervalued.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,526 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $895,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised 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 buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total value of $1,424,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 526,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,035,201.04. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 39,505 shares of company stock valued at $11,130,549 over the last three months. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSN traded up $4.48 on Wednesday, hitting $267.50. The company had a trading volume of 798,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,303. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $281.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.51. The stock has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.49 and a 1-year high of $310.60.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The company had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is 36.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

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.