Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 502,569 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Verisk Analytics worth $138,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth $526,676,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,435,012,000 after acquiring an additional 392,270 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $288.68. 249,299 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 773,216. The firm has a market cap of $40.40 billion, a PE ratio of 45.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $291.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $284.43. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.34 and a twelve month high of $306.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost 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 was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, 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 transaction of $348,229.44. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.