Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Shares Bought by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 89.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,702 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total transaction of $1,755,314.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,456.16. This represents a 30.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Robert W. Baird upped 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. UBS Group upped 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. 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 on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of VRSK stock traded down $1.64 on Thursday, reaching $314.32. 774,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 767,210. The stock has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 50 day moving average of $297.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.04. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $245.01 and a 1-year high of $322.96.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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 payout ratio is 26.35%.

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.