WBI Investments LLC Invests $2.50 Million in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,069 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,498,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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 upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $314.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 699,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,207. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $245.01 and a 12 month high of $315.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $294.61 and a 200 day moving average of $288.85. The company has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. The company 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

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

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.