Tredje AP fonden Purchases 9,669 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in VeriSign by 127.7%, acquiring an additional 9,669 shares, valuing their total stake at $4,376,000.
• VeriSign recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.15%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 19th.
• The company announced a $1.11 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Tredje AP fonden increased its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 127.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,238 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,669 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in VeriSign were worth $4,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of VeriSign by 13,000.0% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in VeriSign by 106.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 159 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in VeriSign by 32.3% during the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 172 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in VeriSign by 48.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:VRSN traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $265.37. 1,337,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 946,763. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a one year low of $172.49 and a one year high of $310.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.26.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The information services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share 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 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% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.11 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at VeriSign

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued 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.