Voleon Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 2,899 Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,899 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $798,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $293.90. 849,642 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 761,592. The firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a PE ratio of 45.85, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 1 year low of $237.09 and a 1 year high of $306.68. The stock's fifty day moving average is $291.45 and its 200 day moving average is $285.69.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock 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 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total value of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% 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.