Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Makes New Investment in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,085 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,210,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,435,012,000 after purchasing an additional 392,270 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,691,016 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,292,047,000 after acquiring an additional 72,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,811,563 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,051,300,000 after purchasing an additional 19,423 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $526,676,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,654,826 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $455,789,000 after purchasing an additional 144,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of Verisk Analytics stock traded up $4.78 on Monday, reaching $314.35. The stock had a trading volume of 740,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,689. The business's 50 day moving average is $293.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.24. The company 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 current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $245.01 and a 1 year high of $314.66.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.40.

About Verisk Analytics

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.