5,834 Shares in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Purchased by Cetera Investment Advisers

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers invested approximately $1.48 million in VeriSign, acquiring 5,834 shares during the first quarter.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.1%, payable on August 27th.
• The company executed a $1.11 billion share buyback plan to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,834 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,481,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRSN. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after acquiring an additional 455,844 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,327,130 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $273,853,000 after acquiring an additional 229,311 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,062,000 after acquiring an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 974,617 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $201,707,000 after acquiring an additional 98,985 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 704,279 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $145,758,000 after acquiring an additional 81,580 shares during the period. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $150,035,201.04. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,505 shares of company stock valued at $11,130,549. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

VeriSign Trading Up 1.7%

VeriSign stock traded up $4.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $267.50. 798,486 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,303. The business's 50 day moving average is $281.15 and its 200 day moving average is $260.51. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.49 and a 52 week high of $310.60. The company has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.92 and a beta of 0.78.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. VeriSign's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

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

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSN. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st.

About VeriSign

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.