Fayez Sarofim & Co Boosts Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 574,232 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,631 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned 0.41% of Verisk Analytics worth $158,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,011,000 after buying an additional 42,883 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $2,957,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded down $2.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $286.05. 1,016,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 773,908. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.88. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $306.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.68.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Barclays downgraded shares of Verisk Analytics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,618. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

About Verisk Analytics

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.