Nuveen LLC Takes $86.01 Million Position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in VeriSign, Inc., purchasing 338,813 shares valued at approximately $86 million, representing about 0.36% ownership of the company.
• The company recently approved a $1.11 billion stock buyback program, indicating a belief that the stock is undervalued, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share.
• VeriSign's latest quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.21, which beat analysts' expectations, along with a revenue increase of 5.9% year-over-year.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 338,813 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $86,014,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.36% of VeriSign at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in VeriSign by 13,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of VeriSign by 106.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in VeriSign by 32.3% during the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in VeriSign during the first quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 48.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 92.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VeriSign Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $266.82. The company had a trading volume of 859,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,182,776. The company has a market capitalization of $24.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $310.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $280.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.93.

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

VeriSign announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

VeriSign Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.50, for a total value of $132,514.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 36,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,724,871.50. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.45, for a total value of $532,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 506,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,029,399.40. This trade represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,006 shares of company stock valued at $13,116,714 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSN. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research 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.