Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $64.24 Million Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,529 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,519 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Verisk Analytics worth $64,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29,469.0% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 233,004 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,176,000 after acquiring an additional 232,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $164,750,000 after purchasing an additional 195,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $297.72. The company had a trading volume of 307,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,470. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $291.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.66. The stock has a market cap of $41.76 billion, a PE ratio of 46.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.