T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Has $393.36 Million Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,428,178 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,644 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 1.01% of Verisk Analytics worth $393,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,011,000 after purchasing an additional 42,883 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,957,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VRSK. 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $290.77. The company had a trading volume of 192,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,462. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $40.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $291.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.99.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. As a group, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock 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 an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. 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 0.46% 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.