Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,589 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.14% of Verisk Analytics worth $53,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock worth $1,121,618. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded down $3.35 on Wednesday, reaching $289.35. 281,882 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 774,087. The company has a 50 day moving average of $292.06 and a 200 day moving average of $284.39. 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 fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.49 billion, a PE ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. On average, equities 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 share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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 issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.