Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 42,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,652,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock opened at $284.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.34 and a 1-year high of $306.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $292.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.49. The company has a market capitalization of $39.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.46, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88.

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 firm had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRSK has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Company 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.