Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Increases Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,174 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $3,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 217.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 22,126 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,049,000 after acquiring an additional 15,149 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,619 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $309.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $303.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The company has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.59 and a 12-month high of $322.92.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,259 shares of company stock worth $7,553,769 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Bank of America started coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.

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