Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,355 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $16,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of VRSK opened at $307.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $245.01 and a 12-month high of $312.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $292.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted 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. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. One investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics 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.