VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in VeriSign, Inc. by 12.9%, selling 219,008 shares and owning approximately 1.58% of the company, valued at $376 million.
• Insider Sales: CEO D. James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares worth $562,700, while EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares. Insiders sold a total of 39,505 shares valued at over $11 million in the last three months.
• VeriSign announced a stock buyback program authorizing up to $1.11 billion in repurchases, reflecting confidence in the stock's valuation, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.77 payable on August 27.

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,482,146 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 219,008 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 1.58% of VeriSign worth $376,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VeriSign during the first quarter worth about $47,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at VeriSign

In other news, CEO D James Bidzos sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.35, for a total value 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 approximately $145,112,452.20. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.50, for a total value of $135,019.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,043,726. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,505 shares of company stock valued at $11,130,549 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

VeriSign Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of VRSN opened at $267.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $281.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.49. The company has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.78. VeriSign, Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.49 and a 52-week high of $310.60.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $409.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.35 million. VeriSign had a negative return on equity of 40.87% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share.

VeriSign announced that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

VeriSign Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRSN shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of VeriSign in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped 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.

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.

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