Welch & Forbes LLC Acquires 188 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $5,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 10.2% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 8.6% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 9.2% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 15.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 34,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,222,000 after acquiring an additional 4,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter valued at approximately $377,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $300.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a PE ratio of 46.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $286.38 and its 200-day moving average is $279.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.34 and a 52 week high of $306.10.

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, topping 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 net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share 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 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,469 shares of company stock worth $1,264,818. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.