Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Achmea Investment Management B.V.

Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 6,050.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $2,676,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $288.58 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $306.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $287.95 and a 200 day moving average of $280.13.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, 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 directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. Corporate insiders own 0.40% 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.