Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Buys 5,258 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 98.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,601 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,258 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in 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 valued at $29,011,000 after buying an additional 42,883 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,335,000 after buying an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,957,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.8 %

VRSK stock traded down $2.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $286.05. 1,016,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 775,017. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.68. The stock's fifty day moving average is $291.89 and its 200-day moving average is $284.58. The company has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.63, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

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 that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total value of $347,746.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.40.

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.