Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 115.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $222.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.76, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $187.86 and a one year high of $251.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $236.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total value of $375,619.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.25, for a total transaction of $375,619.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.