Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stake Raised by MJP Associates Inc. ADV

MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,605,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 30,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestmont Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VRSK. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $309.50 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.28, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $245.01 and a one year high of $313.41.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.