VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in VeriSign by 1.2% in Q1, now owning 11.20% of the company, valued at approximately $2.67 billion.
• VeriSign announced a stock buyback program authorizing $1.11 billion in shares, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and experienced a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.9%.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,514,290 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.20% of VeriSign worth $2,669,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $685,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 3.6% in 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 buying an additional 455,844 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of VeriSign by 358.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,017 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,775,000 after buying an additional 54,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of VeriSign in the 1st quarter worth about $329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.90% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Performance

Shares of VeriSign stock opened at $271.89 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $281.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.36. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.49 and a twelve month high of $310.60. The firm has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. VeriSign had a net margin of 50.05% and a negative return on equity of 40.87%. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis.

VeriSign announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.11 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. VeriSign's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.82, for a total value of $1,424,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,772 shares in the company, valued at $150,035,201.04. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,505 shares of company stock worth $11,130,549 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VeriSign from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of VeriSign from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.