Markel Group Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,950 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Verisk Analytics worth $42,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 188.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,454,000 after buying an additional 16,742 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 899.1% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,919 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,913,000 after buying an additional 10,726 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 479.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,853 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,516,000 after buying an additional 13,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 35,908 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,622,000 after buying an additional 4,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have commented on VRSK. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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 stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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 reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Verisk Analytics
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.
Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.3 %
NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $288.58. The company had a trading volume of 740,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,578. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10. The company has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50 day moving average is $287.70 and its 200 day moving average is $279.98.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend
The firm 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.
Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
About Verisk Analytics
(
Free Report)
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.
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