Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Sold by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $416,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,700,000 after acquiring an additional 283,653 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 822,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 21,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 782,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,532,000 after acquiring an additional 81,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK stock opened at $288.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.34 and a 1 year high of $306.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $287.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.20.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.