Rathbones Group PLC Raises Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,756 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.09% of Verisk Analytics worth $36,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 188.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,454,000 after buying an additional 16,742 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the 4th 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. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 58,782 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,011,000 after purchasing an additional 42,883 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $6.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $291.88. The stock had a trading volume of 835,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,406. The company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.17.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.