Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 72,331 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 259.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,212 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 72,331 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.07% of Verisk Analytics worth $27,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,025 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $287.76. The stock had a trading volume of 992,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,586. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $289.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.89. The stock has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Company 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.