Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $13.17 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 32.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,827 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 22,840 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $13,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. FMR LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $331,476,000 after buying an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 822,644 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 782,819 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $231,532,000 after acquiring an additional 81,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $287.46. 356,471 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 728,148. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.32 billion, a PE ratio of 44.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.10. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $287.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.98.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. 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 payout ratio is 26.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price 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 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $299.33.

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 on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,180.70. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last quarter. 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.