Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRSK. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $222.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.16. The company has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity 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 transaction 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 $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.