Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 555 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Bank boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $297.62 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.66.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

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

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.