GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 26,763 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,371,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Bell Bank lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.1%

VRSK stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $315.96. 612,689 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 767,183. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $245.01 and a twelve month high of $322.95. The firm's 50 day moving average is $296.62 and its 200 day moving average is $289.86. The firm has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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 boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

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.