Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 4,417 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,417 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $285.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.09 billion, a PE ratio of 44.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $292.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.99. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The company 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.95, for a total transaction of $347,746.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,180.70. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VRSK. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.