Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Raised by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,788 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,635 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $23,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 233.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,666 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 90.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,886 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,105 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 2.0 %

VRSK stock traded up $5.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $291.39. 281,758 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,651. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.99. The company has a market capitalization of $40.88 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $306.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. 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. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

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.