Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,626 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $24,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth about $526,676,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 394,461 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $108,646,000 after acquiring an additional 393,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,435,012,000 after acquiring an additional 392,270 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $314.34. 699,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,959. The stock has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.04, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day moving average of $288.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $245.01 and a 52 week high of $315.18.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRSK. UBS Group increased their target price 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 lifted their price target 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 began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.