Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,406 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $2,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $526,676,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 36,332.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,204,468 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $358,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,162 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,252,532 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,226,000 after acquiring an additional 430,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,094,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Verisk Analytics by 31,634.6% in 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 period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRSK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $320.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a PE ratio of 50.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.38. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.59 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value 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 $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,603 shares of company stock valued at $3,904,741 over the last quarter. Company 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.

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