BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 18,473 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 509.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,101 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,473 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $1.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $288.24. The company had a trading volume of 717,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 774,990. The stock has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a PE ratio of 44.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $291.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $284.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was 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 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.