Bank of Nova Scotia Boosts Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 784.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 167,565 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 148,613 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.12% of Verisk Analytics worth $46,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.40.

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Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $295.50. The stock had a trading volume of 159,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,571. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.67. The firm has a market cap of $41.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The business's fifty day moving average price is $292.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.