Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 64.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 48.5% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $222.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.86, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $235.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.05%.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Bank of America cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.00.

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.