Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 117.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,672 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,870 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $12,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 117.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 267 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,607 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,654 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 61.7% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 5,441 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VRSK. Bank of America cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.00.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK remained flat at $222.25 on Wednesday. 1,008,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,711. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The stock has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $233.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.82. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $677.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The business's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 37.05%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock worth $2,647,952 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.