SVB Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

SVB Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,906,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at about $636,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 0.6% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 195,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 9,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America downgraded Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $223.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $235.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.26. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.86 and a 12-month high of $251.98.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.05%.

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.