Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,385,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 353 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $573,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,641,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.5 %

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $301.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $42.55 billion, a PE ratio of 47.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.34 and a 12-month high of $302.25.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of 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, BMO Capital Markets upped 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.