US Bancorp DE Buys 1,808 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,784 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on 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 cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $297.86. The company had a trading volume of 300,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,533. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.10. The stock has a market cap of $41.78 billion, a PE ratio of 46.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $285.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.90.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy 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 shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the 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 directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.