1,151 Shares in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Acquired by 111 Capital

111 Capital bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,151 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $526,676,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after purchasing an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 393,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after purchasing an additional 392,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $314.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,204,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,100. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $298.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.43. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $251.59 and a 1-year high of $317.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.05, 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The company had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

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.