Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Purchases 900 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $15,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. FMR LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $331,476,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 801,150 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,676,000 after buying an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $164,750,000 after acquiring an additional 195,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 332,650 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $91,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $4.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $301.33. 989,025 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 747,041. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $284.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.01, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $302.25.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $733.55 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $299.33.

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.