NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Authorities from the Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Computer Associates International Inc. improperly recorded more than $500 million in revenue to trigger an executive compensation plan, according to a published report Monday.

Growing sales boosted shares of Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates in the late 1990s and in May 1998, the stock hit $55.13. Its CEO, president and head of research at the time then received a special incentive stock award valued at $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Following the award, the company revised its revenue statements for 1998, 1999 and 2000 in its annual 10-K filing with the SEC in 2000, the paper said. The restatements reduced Computer Associates' revenue in 1998 to $4.21 billion, which was $513 million, or 11 percent, less than its original statement.

The 1999 revision lowered the original revenue statement by $587 million, or 11.2 percent, and the 2000 revision lowered sales by $663 million, or 9.8 percent, according to the Journal.

Last week, the company confirmed the investigation widened to third parties, including its auditor at the time of the 1998 and 1999 revisions, Ernst & Young LLP, the paper reported.

Computer Associates also faces a shareholder class action lawsuit alleging the company improperly recorded revenue to trigger the executive award, some of which the executives were forced to give back as part of a separate legal action, according to the report.

Shares of Computer Associates (CA: Research, Estimates) gained 30 cents Friday to close at $17.56.