Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,811,563 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,423 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.70% of Verisk Analytics worth $1,051,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after purchasing an additional 392,270 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $526,676,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,270,745 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $350,001,000 after acquiring an additional 39,544 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 953,753 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $262,692,000 after acquiring an additional 34,826 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Verisk Analytics Stock Down 6.6 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $20.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $284.99. 2,102,297 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 767,931. The company has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. 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 one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $292.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.37.

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

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. 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 payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 reduced their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.