Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $7.16 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 73.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $526,676,000. Amundi boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $108,646,000 after buying an additional 393,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 392,270 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $6.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $292.28. The company had a trading volume of 296,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,716. 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 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.99. The stock has a market cap of $41.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.58, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.40.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction 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. This 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 Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,628,433 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

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.