GTS Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

GTS Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 799 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

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

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded up $2.85 on Monday, hitting $316.99. 592,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,430. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $298.35 and its 200 day moving average is $290.46. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $251.59 and a 52 week high of $321.26. The company has a market capitalization of $44.34 billion, a PE ratio of 49.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.