Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 377.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,140 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,643 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the third 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 last quarter. 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 increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $1,432,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock worth $1,121,618. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $293.02. The stock had a trading volume of 502,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,801. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.68. The firm has a market cap of $41.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The business's fifty day moving average price is $292.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSK. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

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.