Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Natixis

Natixis boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 121.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,777 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 19,070 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $229,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $331,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,376 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 104,536 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,011,000 after purchasing an additional 23,823 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,432,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $286.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,016,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,017. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.63, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $291.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $284.58.

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

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.

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 represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.