Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’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 owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,514,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction 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 $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 50,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,514,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $223.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.86 and a 52 week high of $251.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.26.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America cut Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.00.

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.