Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 644,855 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 98,992 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.46% of Verisk Analytics worth $177,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during 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 during the period. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total value of $337,028.94. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of VRSK traded up $2.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $316.16. The company had a trading volume of 687,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,811. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $245.01 and a 1-year high of $317.05. The stock has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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 given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.35%.

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.