Rossby Financial LCC Takes Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,884 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 188.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,454,000 after acquiring an additional 16,742 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $331,476,000 after acquiring an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 29.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 104,536 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,011,000 after acquiring an additional 23,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK stock traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $293.02. 502,884 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 775,406. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock 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.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

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.