Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 293,808 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.21% of Verisk Analytics worth $87,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 747,337 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $205,839,000 after acquiring an additional 53,502 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 24,085 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,187 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,619 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $320.59. 724,947 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 760,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.59 and a 12-month high of $324.65. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $299.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.11.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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 0.56%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VRSK. Robert W. Baird raised 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.