Assetmark Inc. Has $2.12 Million Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,712 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $288.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 740,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,577. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.