Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Has $9.49 Million Stock Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stock position in VeriSign, Inc. by 14.7% in Q1, now owning 37,362 shares worth approximately $9.48 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 92.90% of VeriSign's stock, with notable increases in holdings by Berkshire Hathaway (3.6%) and Jacobs Levy Equity Management (58.2%) during the last quarter.
• VeriSign announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77, equivalent to an annualized yield of 1.01%, and initiated a stock repurchase program allowing for up to $1.11 billion in share buybacks.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,362 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,432 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of VeriSign during the 4th quarter worth about $222,840,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 34,326.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $176,980,000 after purchasing an additional 695,102 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 268.8% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 692,498 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,319,000 after purchasing an additional 504,748 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 13,271,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,746,661,000 after purchasing an additional 455,844 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VeriSign by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,097,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $227,062,000 after purchasing an additional 403,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSN traded down $4.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $264.68. 816,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 871,326. VeriSign, Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.49 and a 1 year high of $310.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $281.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.87.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

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

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total transaction of $562,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 515,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at $145,112,452.20. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.10, for a total value of $143,837.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,843,479.90. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,604 shares of company stock valued at $11,165,804 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th.

VeriSign Company 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.