Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Boosted by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 384.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,471,000 after purchasing an additional 22,124 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,099,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,441,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Barclays downgraded 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. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $285.16 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $289.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.