Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 4,417 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,417 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $8,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,628,433. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK opened at $285.78 on Friday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.68. The company has a market cap of $40.09 billion, a PE ratio of 44.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $292.24 and a 200-day moving average of $282.99. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.40.

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.