Wolf Group Capital Advisors Purchases Shares of 923 Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Wolf Group Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 923 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 217.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 22,126 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,049,000 after purchasing an additional 15,149 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,619 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 473 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 45,530 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.10, for a total value of $1,723,783.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,036,588.10. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,259 shares of company stock valued at $7,553,769. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $306.27 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $304.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.70. The company has a market capitalization of $42.84 billion, a PE ratio of 44.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.13. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.59 and a 52-week high of $322.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.31 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 396.08% and a net margin of 33.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business 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 has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 26.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Bank of America began coverage on Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased 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. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.40.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.