Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Buys 463 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $287.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 $217.34 and a 12-month high of $306.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.63.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. As a group, analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

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.