Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 59,534 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 629,550 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 59,534 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.67% of VeriSign worth $159,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in VeriSign by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 32.3% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 0.3% during the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,461 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,671,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in VeriSign by 17.0% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 406 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 573 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $4.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $263.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,300,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,119,496. The company has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $281.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.51.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 36.75%.

VeriSign declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other VeriSign news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total transaction of $1,424,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,035,201.04. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 39,505 shares of company stock worth $11,130,549 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.