Norden Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Norden Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $324,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 19.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 210,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,287,000 after buying an additional 34,455 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 101.5% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the third quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 31,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,503,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 31,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,388,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $299.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.73, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $285.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.90. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million. Research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.