Mackenzie Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 522,386 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 28,008 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.36% of Verisk Analytics worth $124,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 133,840 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,969,000 after buying an additional 10,476 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,849,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 670 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ VRSK traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $222.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,462,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 879,240. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $237.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.56. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.86 and a twelve month high of $251.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 37.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 in the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VRSK. Bank of America lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.