UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 233,011 Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,219,674 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 233,011 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.86% of Verisk Analytics worth $335,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $703,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,068 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VRSK traded up $1.05 on Tuesday, hitting $314.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 133,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,623. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $296.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.68. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $245.01 and a fifty-two week high of $315.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VRSK. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on 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 cut their price target 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.