Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Has $3.57 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $222.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.72 billion, a PE ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.86 and a 1 year high of $251.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.93.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.