OFI Invest Asset Management Takes $768,000 Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,888 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 974 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $377,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,517 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,730 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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 Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $289.50. The stock had a trading volume of 715,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,799. The company has a 50-day moving average of $287.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a PE ratio of 45.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 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 analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Barclays cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics 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.