Norges Bank Invests $526.68 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of 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 (SEC). The fund acquired 1,912,194 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $526,676,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.35% of Verisk Analytics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value 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. This represents a 7.88 % 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. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $298.30. 376,250 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 758,807. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.66. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.84 billion, a PE ratio of 46.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 research analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut shares of 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics 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.