Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,069 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,628,433 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK traded up $6.10 on Friday, hitting $291.88. 835,049 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,372. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.54, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $292.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.30.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 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 firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Profile

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.