First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted 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 bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 506.5% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $237.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The company has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.03. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.70 and a 12-month high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated 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 buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952. 0.40% of the stock is owned by 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.