Andra AP fonden Increases Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Andra AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $9,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during 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 buying an additional 283,653 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 21,494 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,094,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,818. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $300.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a PE ratio of 46.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $286.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.43. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase 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 presently 26.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

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.