Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS lessened its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $7,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $294.58 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $290.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G 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 $306.10.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

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.