Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $6.12 Million Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,572 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $6,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 903 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,051,406.64. The trade was a 14.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,259 shares of company stock valued at $7,553,769. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. UBS Group upped 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 assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued 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.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:VRSK traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $310.41. 544,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,985. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.59 and a twelve month high of $322.92. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $303.01 and a 200 day moving average of $292.42. The stock has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a PE ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.35%.

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.