KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $19.47 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 70,670 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,465,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.05% of Verisk Analytics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $2.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $294.58. 728,975 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 758,234. 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 $306.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.34. The company has a market cap of $41.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in 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 often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

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.