Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,116 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,481 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at $834,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,453 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 16,381 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at approximately $391,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,667 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,936,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $298.12. 144,715 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,826. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $41.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $291.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.66.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm 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 boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRSK. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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 cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $299.33.

About Verisk Analytics

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.