Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 123,376 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,981,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.09% of Verisk Analytics as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.0%

VRSK stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $314.38. 1,204,511 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 769,478. The company has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.24. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $245.01 and a one year high of $317.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.