Riverbridge Partners LLC Has $91.78 Million Stock Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Riverbridge Partners LLC decreased its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384,248 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 16,132 shares during the period. Verisk Analytics comprises approximately 1.2% of Riverbridge Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned 0.27% of Verisk Analytics worth $91,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 3.2% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,860 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,906,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth about $636,000. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 0.6% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 195,526 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $41,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 14.4% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 9,781 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David J. Grover sold 6,481 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.06, for a total transaction of $1,510,461.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,829,348.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,531 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total transaction of $361,499.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,973 shares in the company, valued at $12,035,744.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,278 shares of company stock valued at $2,662,515. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $253.00 target price (up from $252.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 1.9 %

VRSK stock traded down $4.49 during trading on Thursday, reaching $226.52. The company had a trading volume of 891,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,400. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.96 and a 52 week high of $251.98. The company has a market cap of $32.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.81, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $240.53 and a 200 day moving average of $238.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.05%.

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.

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