BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 18,473 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 509.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,473 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $331,476,000 after acquiring an additional 78,376 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 104,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,011,000 after purchasing an additional 23,823 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $1,432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.3 %

VRSK stock opened at $293.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.11. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $306.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a PE ratio of 45.71, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.