Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Position Increased by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 73.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 862 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,802 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,623,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Cavalier Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Private Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 5,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

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 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 $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $221.14 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a PE ratio of 52.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.45. 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 12 month low of $187.86 and a 12 month high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price 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 decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.