2,081 Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Purchased by Fielder Capital Group LLC

Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,081 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,144,000 after purchasing an additional 261,961 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29,469.0% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 233,004 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,176,000 after purchasing an additional 232,216 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $1.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $299.56. 753,169 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 728,242. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.67. The company has a market cap of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by 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.