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

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,626 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,476 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.06% of Verisk Analytics worth $24,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $526,676,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after buying an additional 430,719 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $110,094,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised 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 buying an additional 393,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after buying an additional 392,270 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.0%

VRSK stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $314.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,204,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,999. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $298.35 and a 200 day moving average of $290.42. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $246.53 and a 12 month high of $317.81.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $753.00 million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 26.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $3,980,456.16. This trade represents a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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