Fenimore Asset Management Inc. Has $18.01 Million Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Fenimore Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 421.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,404 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 60,957 shares during the quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. owned 0.05% of Verisk Analytics worth $18,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 67.5% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter worth about $35,000. 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 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,507 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.64, for a total value of $355,109.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,513,370.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total value of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at $2,829,348.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,278 shares of company stock worth $2,662,515. 1.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.3 %

VRSK stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $231.99. The company had a trading volume of 846,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 870,877. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.72. The company has a market capitalization of $33.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.10, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.78. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.96 and a 52 week high of $251.98.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.04). Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 305.15% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $253.00 price target (up previously from $252.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Bank of America lowered Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $252.00.

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.

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