Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 985,803 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 80,146 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.68% of Verisk Analytics worth $235,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 2.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,621 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Verisk Analytics by 13.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,072 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 231.3% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 540 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,507 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 33,349 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 18,001 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,648,390. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $247.84. 477,909 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 886,429. The company has a market capitalization of $35.36 billion, a PE ratio of 46.47, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.65 and a 52-week high of $251.98. The firm's 50-day moving average is $232.03 and its 200-day moving average is $236.74.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The business had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

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.