Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Acquired by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,060 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $4,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 61,889 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,046,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 105,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,011,000 after buying an additional 42,883 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,335,000 after buying an additional 2,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,957,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. 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. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of VRSK traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $312.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 566,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,591. The company's 50-day moving average is $294.14 and its 200-day moving average is $288.69. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $245.01 and a 52-week high of $317.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.73, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. 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, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

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.