Natural Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,717 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,676,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

VRSK opened at $298.00 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $286.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.80 billion, a PE ratio of 46.49, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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